Washington state reports eight new coronavirus deaths

A woman wearing a mask walks by blooming cherry trees during a global outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Washington, U.S., March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

(Reuters) - Washington state on Thursday reported eight more deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, bringing the death toll there to 74, the most of any U.S. state.

The majority of those deaths have come in the Seattle area, clustered around a long-term nursing care facility in the suburb of Kirkland where the respiratory illness first surfaced in the United States.