Coronavirus Spread to 137 Long-Term Care Facilities in Washington State, Killing More Than 200 People

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At least 137 long-term-care facilities in Washington state had confirmed cases of the disease caused by novel coronavirus as of Wednesday, and more than 200 deaths have been linked to them, according to state officials.

A list of facilities with COVID-19 cases, provided for the first time by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), includes 52 nursing homes, 53 assisted-living facilities, 23 adult family homes and nine other facilities.

At least 52 of these facilities reported a total of 221 deaths from the disease so far, according to the state Department of Health. That's about half the number of deaths the state had confirmed by Wednesday.

Nearly one out of seven nursing homes or assisted-living facilities have been hit by the pandemic. About half the facilities with cases are in King County. Six are located in Kirkland, including Life Care Center of Kirkland, where an outbreak spread to at least 167 people, 37 of whom died.



Three other facilities in the state owned by Life Care Centers of America have confirmed cases: Life Care Center of Skagit Valley in Sedro Woolley, Life Care Center of Richland and Life Care Center of Mount Vernon. Life Care is a national chain that operates or manages more than 200 facilities in 20 states.

The number of facilities with COVID-19 cases is likely far higher, as across-the-board testing has been out of reach for most and public-health officials have struggled to track the spread. The Seattle Times had identified at least 90 with confirmed cases last week, while the state was only reporting around 60 at that time.

The Seattle Times has asked state and local health departments for more information about facilities with confirmed cases for weeks. None of the agencies have yet provided detailed information about the numbers of cases or deaths at each one.

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