Here is my weekly update for Washington State using data from the Department of Health (DOH) and the University of Washington UW) Virology Laboratory.

The DOH reports (relatively) complete data through May 8. That’s why the title of this page refers to “May 8” even though I’m posting these charts on May 18.

The UW Virology Laboratory performs a significant portion (about 40%) of the COVID-19 testing in Washington State. Approximately 90% of the tests performed by UW are for patients in Washington itself. [Click images to enlarge.]

The UW data is current up to the present date (May 17, 2020). So, you may think about UW’s positivity rate as a glimpse at the past week before the DOH statistics roll out. Like the DOH trend, there was a slight up-tick at the end of April and beginning of May, which is now settling back down.

I’m quite happy to see the downward trend and that we are keeping the disease in check. We are going to the dentist tomorrow (!) and it will be interesting to see how they handle the situation.

Last week, the CDC issued a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) concerning a cluster outbreak as the result of a choir practice in Skagit County Washington during March 2020. Our own music ministry discussed the wisdom of holding rehearsals in roughly the same time frame. I’m glad that we took a pass on rehearsal. All it takes is one “super-spreader” at a group gathering.

The virus is still out there. The CDC MMWR should make everyone wonder about choir/music rehearsals and performance in the near- to medium-term future. We need to take this health threat seriously until people are vaccinated.

Be safe at home and be healthy — P.J. Drongowski