OLYMPIA, WA — The Washington State Department of Health is updating its COVID-19 data dashboard in an effort to paint a more accurate and thorough picture of the pandemic.

“The goal is to display current trends and information that are most applicable to the current phase of the pandemic,” the agency said in a news release. “DOH is also adjusting the frequency of COVID-19 dashboard updates from daily to three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.”

The most obvious change for longtime dashboard users is the creation of a ‘Current Status’ update, which will allow users to see the 7-day case rate, 7-day hospital occupancy, and vaccination rates at a glance.

The dashboard update makes it clear: Washington isn’t doing so hot right now: 29 percent of hospital beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients, and all 39 of Washington’s counties have case rates of over 100 cases per 100,000 residents.

In fact, most case rates are much higher than 100. In King County, the 7-day case rate is 1,939 cases per 100, residents. In Pierce, the rate is 1,970 and Snohomish has the lowest of the three most populous counties with a case rate of 1,642.

Readers who were used to the old layout don’t need to worry about missing out. The dashboard still provides the demographics and testing data, vaccination updates and epidemiologic curves— even if those are also looking pretty bad right now.

>> See the dashboard on the Washington State Department of Health’s website.