Washington surpasses 5,000 COVID-related deaths as pandemic eclipses 1 year
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Washington's death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic has reached over 5,000, the state Department of Health (DOH) announced Wednesday.
The grim milestone came almost exactly a year after the first U.S. death due to the virus was announced on Feb. 29, 2020 at EvergreenHealth hospital in Kirkland. Later, deaths that had occurred in the preceding weeks around the country were attributed to COVID-19. Nationally, deaths have reached over 500,000.
But, with enough vaccines for every adult in the U.S. promised by President Joe Biden by the end of May, and the decline of cases and deaths, Washington was trending in the right direction as the state hit 5,012 deaths. This was after Washington had a surge of cases and deaths that reached a peak in late fall through early January. On Dec. 8, the state had a rolling 7-day daily average of 39 deaths. On Wednesday, the DOH reported 24 new deaths to put the state over 5,000.