Here are the pandemic-related toplines for August’s final Wednesday:

NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily-summary dashboard, the cumulative totals:

*19,049 people have tested positive, 172 more than yesterday

*715 people have died, 3 more than yesterday

*2,204 people have been hospitalized, 6 more than yesterday

*347,654 people have been tested, 2,700 more than yesterday

One week ago, the four totals were 18,130/697/2,130/327,448.

ANOTHER AREA DEATH: 98116 just recorded its third death. For the record, here are the current totals for the other four zip codes that are entirely or partly within West Seattle:

98136 – 3
98106 – 4
98146 – 12
98126 – 14

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them, county by county, on the state Department of Health page,.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: See them, nation by nation, here.

STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS’ WEEKLY BRIEFING:Among the headlines from this – total case numbers statewide have been going down for the past few weeks, but the rate of newly diagnosed cases per 100,000 people remains about four times what health officials would like to see. Watch the briefing here.

WHO SHOULD GET TESTED? Also mentioned at the briefing, a clarification now that the CDC has changed its testing advice. From the accompanying news release:

The Washington State Department of Health’s guidance around testing has not changed: if you have symptoms, you need to get tested. If you’re a close contact of a confirmed case, you need to get tested. Close contacts of confirmed cases also need to stay at home away from others (quarantine) for 14 days after the last exposure even if they test negative for COVID-19, because it is possible for people who test negative to still be incubating the virus, and become contagious later.

People with symptoms of COVID-19 or who have had close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 should make testing their first priority. However, timing is key. Testing too soon after an exposure may give you a negative result, even if you’ve been infected. If exposed and you develop symptoms, testing that day or the next is recommended. If exposed and you don’t develop symptoms, waiting 5-6 days after exposure to get a test is recommended. People must stay in quarantine for the entire 14 days even if a test is negative.

BOOKING OPENS FOR NEW WS TEST SITE: Testing starts Friday at the city’s new site (labeled “Chief Sealth High School” though as we’ve reported, it’s not at the school, but rather across the street) – and now you can go here to make an appointment.

GOT INFO? Email us at westseattleblog@gmail.com or phone us, text or voice, at 206-293-6302 – thank you!