10 new cases of COVID-19 announced in Thurston County, pushing total to 24
Thurston County had its worst day of the COVID-19 crisis on Thursday when public health officials announced 10 new confirmed cases, pushing the countywide total to 24.
The new cases were split evenly between men and women, according to Thurston County Public Health and Social Services.
“We expected to see a slight jump in cases as these individuals would have been exposed two weeks ago, before the (state) restrictions were put in place,” said Thurston County Health Officer Dr. Diana Yu in a statement. “We are also seeing more positives because there is more capacity for testing in our community.”
She added: “We knew this was in our community. The increase in testing just confirms this and gives us a better picture of what is occurring.”
Yu reminded residents to practice social distancing.
The 10 cases announced Thursday:
▪ Four men in their 60s and one man in his 50s;
▪ One woman in her 60s, one woman in her 50s, two women in their 40s and one in her 30s.
The other 14 confirmed cases:
▪ March 24: Two men in their 60s and one man in his 20s.
▪ March 23: A woman in her 20s.
▪ March 21: A man in his 40s and a woman in her 30s.
▪ March 20: A woman in her 60s and a woman in her 50s.
▪ March 18: A man in his 30s.
▪ March 16: A woman in her 40s.
▪ March 15: A man in his 60s.
▪ March 13: A woman in her 50s and a man in his 40s.
▪ March 11: A man in his 50s.
Although 10 cases were announced Thursday, the number of cases in Thurston County remains low compared to other counties in the state. King County had more than 1,300 cases and 100 deaths as of late Wednesday, according to state Department of Health data.
Washington state had more than 2,580 cases and 132 deaths as of Wednesday. More than 30,000 have tested negative for the virus.
As a country, the news turned grim Thursday after the U.S. surpassed China to become the worldwide leader in confirmed cases. As of Friday, the U.S. had more than 93,000 confirmed cases. Globally, there are 566,000 confirmed cases and more than 25,000 deaths attributed to the new coronavirus.
This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 3:23 PM.
