New coronavirus cases leaped in Washington in the week ending Sunday, rising 73% as 8,355 cases were reported. The previous week had 4,829 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Washington ranked first among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 20.4% from the week before, with 140,886 cases reported. With 2.29% of the country’s population, Washington had 5.93% of the country’s cases in the last week. Across the country, five states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Many places are not reporting data on a regular schedule because of Memorial Day, making week-to-week comparisons inaccurate.
Within Washington, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Lincoln, Spokane and Grays Harbor counties. Adding the most new cases overall were Pierce County, with 1,721 cases; King County, with 1,409 cases; and Spokane County, with 1,299. Weekly case counts rose in 32 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week’s pace were in Pierce, Spokane and King counties.
Kitsap County reported 191 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 130 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic, it has reported 8,445 cases and 112 deaths.
>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases
Washington ranked 13th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 56.5% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 50.5%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.
In the week ending Sunday, Washington reported administering another 354,301 vaccine doses, including 154,871 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 448,279 vaccine doses, including 199,072 first doses. In all, Washington reported it has administered 7,615,957 total doses.
Across Washington, cases fell in five counties, with the best declines in Clallam, Wahkiakum and Franklin counties.
In Washington, 63 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 80 people were reported dead.
A total of 435,849 people in Washington have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 5,765 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 33,258,623 people have tested positive and 594,430 people have died.
>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.
