Data Snapshot
UW Medicine Hospitals:
King County: The county reported 149 new positive cases and 1 new deaths on August 12.
Washington: The state reported 64,702 cases and 1,702 deaths as of August 11.
United States: The CDC reports 5,176,018 cases and 165,148 deaths as of August 13.
Global: WHO reports 20,439,814 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 744,385 deaths as of August 13.
*Numbers update frequently, please follow links for most up-to-date numbers.
UW Medicine in the News
CBS News: Demand for COVID tests pushed labs to their limit. Will they be ready for fall?
Featuring: Alex Greninger, Laboratory Medicine
“ At the University of Washington Medicine Clinical Virology Laboratory, they’re running 7,000 to 8,000 molecular tests, also known as PCR tests, a day. That’s about 50,000 a week — equal to the lab’s total molecular test output last year. The team is renting an additional 14,000 square feet beneath their current office and lab, more than doubling their space. But they are still running fewer tests than they could be because of a shortage in the supplies and chemicals they need. And they are not alone. One of the only ways that labs can navigate the current supply chain is by buying equipment from different manufacturers so that a delayed shipment from one company doesn’t risk the output of the whole lab. ‘You can’t stockpile, there’s no way to stockpile,’ Professor Alex Greninger, assistant director of the university’s lab, told CBS News. ‘In about two or three weeks, we’ll have seven different platforms for seven different supply chains. That’s the only way we can handle this.”’
KIRO 7: Russia grants regulatory approval to COVID-19 vaccine, researchers skeptical
Featuring: Anna Wald, Allergy & Infectious Diseases
“In the United States, vaccines go through a detailed approval process that includes three stages of clinical trials. ‘I think the FDA has been very clear all the usual steps to make sure the product is both safe and effective will be followed for each vaccine tested in the United States,’ said Dr. Anna Wald, the head of allergy and infectious diseases at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She is involved in the phase 3 clinical trial for the AstraZeneca vaccine. She is looking for 30,000 participants. ‘It’s really important we get people who are at risk of getting this disease, which has taken a disproportionate toll on communities of color and the elderly, so those are the two populations we will target for enrollment. The AstraZeneca trial is expected to begin in a few weeks.,’ she said.”
The News Tribune: Clearing confusion on asymptomatic spread of COVID-19
Featuring: UW Medicine Newsroom Video featuring John Lynch, Allergy & Infectious Diseases
“Confusion abounds about the difference between asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic infections when it comes to COVID-19. UW Medicine’s Dr. John Lynch, medical director of infection prevention and control at Harborview Medical Center, offers his insight.”
The Seattle Times: On ‘an extremely difficult day,’ Pac-12 Conference follows Big Ten in postponing fall sports seasons
Featuring: Jonathan Drezner, Sports Medicine
“Regarding the ‘potential serious cardiac side effects in elite athletes,’ ESPN published a story Monday afternoon stating that myocarditis — a rare heart inflammation that could be linked to COVID-19 — has been found in at least five Big Ten athletes as well as several athletes in other conferences, according to two sources with knowledge of the athletes’ medical care. Dr. Jonathan Drezner — director of the UW Medicine Center for Sports Cardiology and a UW team physician — gave voice to those concerns in a phone interview with The Times on Monday night. ‘We’re hearing from colleagues at other Power Five institutions who are finding cases of myocarditis in their athletes who had asymptomatic or mild (COVID-19) infections,’ said Drezner, who represents UW on the Pac-12 Medical Advisory Board. ‘It has really raised a concern within the medical community that there’s just a lot of unanswered questions that we need to learn more about as we think about sports.”’