Data Downloads
Reports
Data Notes
November 30, 2020: DOH is working actively to resume reporting of negative COVID-19 test results by December 4, 2020.
November 30, 2020: Due to increased laboratory report volumes, we have not been able to complete deduplication activities for some cases today. As a result, some duplicate lab reports and case information are included in our dashboards. Today’s report may include up to 400 duplicate new cases. These will be resolved within the "incomplete data" period identified on our dashboard. The Epidemiologic Curves tab is the most accurate representation of COVID-19 activity and is updated daily as new cases are identified and duplicates are resolved.
November 24, 2020: DOH has paused reporting new negative COVID test results through November 30, 2020. Some recent negative test results may still be added due to catch-up processing of the recent backlog. DOH will continue to update case, hospitalization, and death information.
November 21, 2020: Due to the current increased volume of lab test results, DOH has asked several high submitting labs to stop sending negative results for one week. This will allow DOH to catch up on the backlog and explore solutions to process higher volumes. As of today, we are continuing to experience a reporting delay of 1-2 days. The data in the dashboards are impacted by this delay, however the dashboards are not yet impacted by the temporary pause on receiving negative lab results.
November 12, 2020: Today's total cases, hospitalizations, and deaths include those from Veterans Day (11/11/2020). We estimate there were 1,469 new PCR-positive cases on 11/11/2020.
November 8, 2020: We recently experienced an interruption of COVID-like illness and hospitalization data processing. The issue is partially resolved. COVID-like illness counts are now up to date. However, there is still an interruption in hospitalization data which should be resolved on Monday November 9, 2020. The interruption is likely to create a backlog of hospitalizations that will increase counts substantially once processing resumes. Today's hospitalization data are complete as of 11:59 pm on November 4, 2020. Data from November 5, 2020 through November 7, 2020 11:59 pm are incomplete.
November 4, 2020: 14 of the deaths added to today’s counts were identified while conducting quality improvement on our death reporting process over the past week. These 14 deaths occurred earlier, but were not previously linked to a COVID-19 positive test.
November 2, 2020: Negative test results do not include today's updates due to a data processing issue. Today’s dashboard includes current information for total and newly confirmed cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. We anticipate being able to update all data by tomorrow (11/03/2020).
Technical Notes
Time delays and lags
Minor time delays in the collection of laboratory testing data, confirming cases, hospitalizations, and deaths occur regularly due to processing and reporting variation between data sources. This variation is due to differences in individual actions, laboratory capacities, and case confirmation and reporting processes.
After analyzing time lags between steps, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) increased the period of incomplete reporting for most metrics to 10 days to ensure that 90% of data are accounted for in our posted numbers. For each metric shown on a time trend, the incomplete data period is shown in light gray. We provide a Learn More link with more detail on the period of incomplete data.
Number of infections
Public health experts agree that the true number of people who have been infected with COVID-19 in Washington greatly exceeds those that have been laboratory-confirmed. It is very difficult to know exactly how many people in Washington have been infected to date, since most people with COVID-19 experience mild illness and testing is still not widely available.
Cases
Effective June 16, 2020, Washington State Department of Health (DOH) uses the date of an individual’s first positive lab result as the case date. Previously, the date a case was reported to DOH was used as the case date. Our current approach provides a more accurate designation of case confirmation dates while shifting less than 10% of case counts by date, most noticeably for cumulative case counts and graphics.
Testing
Two important data issues continue to affect results presented on the testing tab: 1) the delayed entry of negative lab results into our data system; and 2) the lack of an assigned county for about 21% of negative test results. These issues impact some counties disproportionately. Washington State Department of Health (DOH) continues to work on a sustainable solution.
Effective August 25, 2020, DOH changed the methodology for reporting test results. The total number of tests are now reported instead of the total number of individuals tested. New positive and negative test counts include all molecular tests (by specimen collection date) of individuals who have not previously tested positive. Multiple test results from the same day are counted only once and we exclude repeat tests on an individual after the first positive result. This methodology has been applied to the entire dashboard timeframe. The changes in our testing methodology did not affect dashboard testing trends.
Deaths
Deaths are reported to the state by health care providers, medical examiners/coroners, local health departments, and others. For this reason, the statewide count of deaths often lags behind the counts of local health departments.
Effective August 28, 2020, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) stopped publishing COVID-19 death counts on weekends. COVID-19 death counts are published Monday through Friday. DOH adds the counts collected on weekends to the following Monday and Tuesday reports.