EVERETT — The Snohomish Health District reported 182 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, breaking the previous single-day record set Sunday, when the district reported 140 cases.
Available health district data do not show exactly where new cases are, or if they are tied to any specific places or events.
Meanwhile, the United States crossed a threshold of 100,000 new cases in a single day this week, setting a new daily record Wednesday for known infections, according to a New York Times database. That national record was broken again Thursday.
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North and South Dakota and Wisconsin have led the nation for weeks in new cases per capita. Single-day records were set in five other states Wednesday.
Washington set its own single-day record Tuesday, with at least 1,440 cases, the state Department of Health reported.
The number of people admitted to hospitals due to COVID has held fairly steady across Washington for the past six months: roughly 35 and 55 new patients per day, according to the best available data from the state Department of Health.
The figure peaked again in late October, with 59 patients hospitalized in a day. It was the most since April.
An increase in deaths typically follows in the days and weeks after a spike in new cases.
A report Monday from the Snohomish Health District shows between Oct. 11 and Oct. 24, case counts rose to almost 121 cases per 100,000 people in the county, a 21 percent increase from the previous week. The suggested target set by health officials is fewer than 25 cases per 100,000 people.
Maskless indoor social gatherings, both large and small, continue to drive new infections, county health officer Dr. Chris Spitters has said. That’s because the disease is commonly transmitted through droplets generated when people talk, sneeze, cough or breathe.
Wearing a mask helps prevent the spread of droplets and also blocks them from other people. Ventilation also can push droplets away.
There were concerns that Halloween parties would drive up the number of infections, but it could take a couple of weeks for those numbers to show.
“We’ll certainly be watching,” Spitters said earlier this week. “That’s just the first of many holidays on the calendar coming up.”
Cases are rising among all age groups, including those most vulnerable to dying from the virus. That has public health officials worried that hospitalizations and deaths from the virus could rise.
Stephanie Davey: 425-339-3192; sdavey@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @stephrdavey.
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