Nurses wearing protective clothing handle a vial containing a potentially infected coronavirus swab at a driving test center on the University of Washington Medical campus. (Photo by John Moore / Getty Images)
In the data update from the Washington State Department of Health on Monday, there were 39 fewer deaths than reported on Sunday. DOH said Tuesday that this decrease is due to a change in the reporting system. The department released a new report on July 14, 2020, to explain how the department plans to improve COVID-19 death reports statewide.
The report classifies the 1,458 deaths among Washington residents as confirmed, suspected, pending, or non-COVID deaths. There is also a separate category for when a death is likely to be related to COVID-19, but there is no positive result associated with death.
The number 1,458 is the death of people in Washington state who have had a positive COVID-19 test. Includes 65 deaths for which COVID-19 was ruled out as a cause or contributing factor; nine of which were by homicide, suicide or accident, and 56 were natural deaths.
To be categorized, data is collected from cause of death information on the death certificate, test results, case investigation or contact information, follow-up with medical certifiers, and information from local health jurisdictions public.
DOH’s Kate Hutchinson said at a virtual news conference Tuesday that 89% of reported deaths, about 1,300 in total, fall into the confirmed category with a positive result and COVID-19 on the death certificate.
Hutchinson also said that finalized death reports can take up to a year, but most of the process has been reduced to just a few weeks.
“Determining whether COVID-19 caused or contributed to a person’s death can be very complex and can take weeks to verify depending on the complexity of the case,” the report read. “As we move through the regular DOH process to finalize the death counts, we will make all the justified adjustments to these data, and the numbers are likely to change over time.”
The rate of new COVID-19 cases in Washington now exceeds the March peak
Changes are being made to provide more context on COVID-19 death reports and to better reflect deaths where the virus caused or contributed to death. From this process, 39 deaths were eliminated, all of which were natural deaths determined not to be caused by COVID-19.
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