Inslee ‘cautiously pleased’ as confirmed COVID-19 cases dip in Washington state

After a summer in which Washington health officials often announced as many as 800 or 1,000 new confirmed COVID-19 cases daily, Gov. Jay Inslee Thursday said he was “cautiously pleased” the state’s situation is now improving.

Tallies for new daily confirmed cases have trended down, which has also brought down the average number of cases per 100,000 state residents over a recent two-week span.

In a news conference, the governor also cited a model showing a dip in the rate of transmission, which estimates how many people an infected person goes on to sicken.

“I am cautiously pleased to tell you that we have seen a decline in diagnosed cases in the last two weeks and that some of our other data shows some positive trends,” said Inslee.