136 cases of novel coronavirus now confirmed statewide by Washington health officials

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Updated Sunday, March 8 at 2:00 p.m.

Local health officials confirmed there were 136 cases of novel coronavirus in Washington state as of Sunday. The total number of deaths increased to 18.

Those numbers include 83 confirmed cases and 17 confirmed deaths in King County, 31 cases and one confirmed death in Snohomish County, and four cases in Pierce County. Grant, Jefferson, Clark and Kittitas counties each had one case. Fourteen cases were categorized as "unassigned" by the Washington Department of Health.

The person who had a confirmed case in Grant County died due to the virus, a news release on Sunday from the Grant County Health District.

Kitsap County also reported its first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, a person in their 60s on Bainbridge Island who was in isolation, according to a news release from the Kitsap Public Health District. It was unclear whether it was a new case or one of the 14 unassigned cases confirmed on Sunday.

On Sunday, King County Public Health reported 12 more cases including two deaths. Both deaths were linked to the Life Care facility in Kirkland; a woman in her 80s died on March 6, and a man in his 90s died on March 5.

The outbreak in King County has been confirmed in different locations than the epicenter in Kirkland it started in. In addition to a nursing and rehabilitation facility in Kirkland, the virus has been confirmed at a nursing home in Issaquah and a senior living home in Seattle.

King County Public Health reported that tests have now been made available for every resident of the facility, but also that the number of cases associated with the home could be more as 70 employees have been monitored with COVID-19 symptoms.

Also Friday, state government officials held a news conference announcing $11.5 million in federal funding coming to Washington to help with the outbreak response. This was part of a $2.5 billion funding package signed by President Donald Trump specifically for the outbreak, to be distributed across the country. Additional funding is expected to continue flowing into the state and nationwide as the outbreak response continues.

"We are pleased that the U.S. Congress is sending Washington state much more than their thoughts and prayers," Gov. Jay Inslee said during the news conference, "and that’s the resources that we so need to make this a much more robust effort."

So far, King County has spent about $100,000 per day to help with the novel coronavirus outbreak response, and Snohomish County spent $200,000 to manage the first confirmed case in the state.

The numbers of those affected by the virus were up compared to Thursday, when 70 cases had been confirmed and 10 deaths were attributed to the virus. The total number of cases and deaths attributed to COVID-19 were expected to continue rising as testing increases.

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Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler announced at Thursday's news conference an emergency order that would require state health insurers to waive copays and deductibles for people who require coronavirus testing. The order also included allowing "a one-time early refill for prescription drugs," Kreidler said.

At the news conference, Gov. Jay Inslee along with health officials such as the state's health officer Dr. Kathy Lofy, repeated that those with mild symptoms still don't need to be tested.

"If you have mild symptoms, whether it's a positive or negative result, you're still going to get the same treatment advice," Inslee said.

The Washington State Department of Health on its website said "people with flu-like symptoms are not being tested for COVID-19 unless they meet certain criteria set by the CDC," which allows new tests to be used for high-risk people.

King County health officials announced on Wednesday 10 newly confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the total throughout the county up to 31 as of 1:15 p.m. Wednesday.

The 10 cases included one death, which means now nine people have died due to COVID-19 in King County, or 10 deaths statewide. The person whose death was announced Wednesday was a resident of Life Care, a nursing and rehabilitation facility in Kirkland. She was a woman in her 90s, hospitalized at Evergreen Health and died on Tuesday.

Nine of the 10 new cases announced Wednesday were linked to Life Care. Of those eight, seven were residents. The other two were "associated" with the facility according to a news release from King County Public Health. A tally of the 31 cases in King County showed 22 of them were linked with Life Care.

At a news conference Wednesday, King County Executive Dow Constantine laid out new recommendations, not mandates, from the county on how to handle the outbreak of the virus. He also announced all non essential government meetings were to be canceled for the next three weeks, with a check-in on the virus situation at the end of each week.

Those who are 60 and older, with underlying health conditions -- which includes heart and lung disease or diabetes -- with weakened immune systems and people who are pregnant should stay home as much as possible, King County Public Health Director Patty Hayes said at the news conference.

Those who feel sick or believe they have been exposed should take steps like isolating themselves, contacting their doctors and watching their health, officials said.

Constantine said employers should encourage people to telecommute.

He also said people should avoid large groups of 10 or more and consider postponing events and gatherings. However, school closures were not recommended yet.

King County Public Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin said school closures cause severe community disruption, and the virus doesn't appear to be particularly harmful to children at this point.

"We really don't know the role of children in transmitting this disease, we don't know how important they are in moving this virus through the community," Duchin said.

He said children do spread infection, but that the risk to children was low right now.

"If we believed this was harmful to children, we would close schools," Duchin said.

He also mentioned a "paradoxical" problem with closing schools as parents and grandparents could be caring for them, which are the higher risk groups.

Flatly he added, with schools closed, kids will sometimes gather elsewhere.

Constantine also announced the location of a motel the county was buying to potentially house quarantined patients -- an Econo Lodge in Kent.

"The motel is located in Kent. We are working with the community, and should have it opened in days," Constantine said. Just prior to the announcement, Kent officials held a news conference that contradicted Constantine's claims of "working with the community."

"According to the information we received today, the county plans to move patients into this facility within the next nine to 10 days, but still have not inquired with the city about permits or occupancy of this building," Kent Mayor Dana Ralph said.

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SeattlePI reporter Alex Halverson can be reached at alex.halverson@seattlepi.com. Follow him on Twitter @ByAlexHalverson. Find more from Alex here.