Public Health / Dept of Health case updates April 27 - hospitalizations decline

Epidemiology summary:

DOH continues to receive about 200-250 new reports of COVID-19 per day. Case counts decreased in early April but then plateaued in mid-April. Hospitalizations, which are a more reliable indicator of disease activity, have decreased throughout the month of April, however.

Case counts can be difficult to interpret because that number is dependent on the number of tests performed and who is being tested in the population.

The number of outbreaks at long term care facilities has also decreased throughout the month of April.

Testing update:

Testing numbers appear stable. A new ordering process that includes a tracking and reporting dashboard is planned for implementation this week.

An update in testing guidance including the recent expansion of symptoms that identify infection with COVID-19 (see article). There continues to be high interest in expanding access to high quality antibody testing which shows whether or not a person has been exposed to COVID-19.

What we are waiting for the research to tell us is whether or not a past exposure prevents reinfection.

60 people are currently staying in King County isolation, quarantine and recovery facilities, including Shoreline

Dashboard

Case updates

United States

• 985,548 known cases
• 55,983 deaths

Washington state

• 13,686 known cases - up 165
• 765 deaths

King county

• 5,990 known cases - up 78
• 416 deaths - up 9

Shoreline

• 277 known cases
• 40 deaths

Lake Forest Park

• 28 known cases
• 1 death