Where cases stand in Washington
- 465 new coronavirus cases reported as of Saturday by the Washington State Department of Health (DOH). The DOH is no longer reporting updated death totals on the weekends.
- Total: 1,991 deaths among 79,476 overall cases in Washington state.
- Since the start of the pandemic, the DOH reports that 7,048 people have been hospitalized for COVID-19 in Washington state.
- The state reports of the total confirmed cases in the state, Washington's coronavirus death rate is 2.5%.
Coronavirus activity in Washington state appears to be declining as of late August, according to the latest situation report released by the Washington State Department of Health (DOH).
The report released Friday shows the reproductive number, that's how many new people each COVID-19 patient will infect, was estimated at 0.86 for western Washington on Aug. 17, which is down from the estimate of 0.97 in the state's last report. In eastern Washington, the reproductive number was estimated at 0.91 on Aug. 14, down from the estimate of 0.98 in the last report.
Oxford University says trials of a coronavirus vaccine that it is developing with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca will resume, days after being paused due to a reported side-effect in a patient in the U.K.
In a statement, the university said in large trials such as this "it is expected that some participants will become unwell and every case must be carefully evaluated to ensure careful assessment of safety."
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally drew more than 460,000 people to the South Dakota town that hosted it Aug. 7-16.
The event was much criticized for its potential to be a super-spreader of COVID-19, with many of the participants forgoing masks and social distancing as they roared around town and patronized bars, restaurants and tattoo parlors.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says while he remains confident a COVID-19 vaccine will come this year, it may be late 2021 before life returns to normal in the U.S.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Friday that the issue is how long it will take to get the vaccine out to enough people.
