Coronavirus updates: Pierce County approved for Phase 2; county reports 9 cases, 1 death
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Friday, June 5.
STATE REPORTS 264 NEW COVID-19 CASES, 11 DEATHS
Updated 6:30 p.m.
The Washington State Department of Health reported 264 new COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths Friday.
Statewide totals are now at 22,993 cases and 1,149 deaths, up from 22,729 cases and 1,138 deaths Thursday.
King County continues to be the hardest hit, with 8,371 cases and 576 deaths, while Snohomish County has 3,014 cases and 152 deaths and Yakima County has 4,141 cases and 99 deaths.
Pierce County reported nine new cases and one death Friday, and is up to 2,018 cases and 79 deaths since the outbreak began.
The total number of hospitalizations with a confirmed case in the state were at 3,639 on Friday.
The state has conducted 390,863 tests, with 5.9% coming back positive. The test numbers reflect only polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which are given to patients while the virus is presumably still active in the body.
PIERCE COUNTY OUTLINES PLAN FOR TESTING, CONTACT TRACING, MITIGATION
Updated 5 p.m.
In addition to its application to move into Phase 2 of the state’s reopening plan, which was approved Thursday, Pierce County also submitted a mitigation plan to the state outlining how it will aim to slow the spread of COVID-19 as businesses resume operations.
Dr. Anthony Chen of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department said during a Board of Health meeting Sunday that the county can dull a surge of new cases through a controlled, gradual reopening.
Chen said strategies such as implementing aggressive testing, case investigation, contact tracing and helping people isolate and quarantine when necessary will reduce the chance of a surge that could overwhelm hospitals.
The application was submitted to the state along with the Phase 2 application Tuesday morning. Pierce County was approved to move forward two days later.
Here is a breakdown of the mitigation application by category:
▪ Testing: Pierce County’s rate of positive COVID-19 tests dropped from 7.4% the final week of April to 2.7% the final week of May, according to the application. The average number of tests performed per day the final week of May was 37.3.
Chen said Sunday there has been a decrease in residents seeking testing, likely because fewer people are experiencing symptoms.
During the meeting, County Executive Bruce Dammeier said the public mindset about testing needs to shift due to expanded testing capability.
While those in high-risk populations and those who were experiencing severe symptoms were encouraged to seek testing when supplies were in a shortage, testing can now be offered to all experiencing even mild symptoms.
“Now we need to retrain them to seek tests and I agree that we want to have kind of a strategy that gets us out into the community as much as is possible,” Dammeier said during the meeting.
Testing sites are available across the county.
The health departments proposed budget plan to the county asks for $13.2 million to increase testing and lab capacity to 300 tests per day, consistent with Gov. Jay Inslee’s Phase 3 guidance. The funding has not yet been approved.
▪ Contact tracing: The health department has planned for a possible surge of up to 350 new cases per day.
It has 44 people currently trained and assigned to the case investigations team, and aims to have up to 199 trained and available by September.
Contact tracing begins when a positive case is identified. Investigation teams then contact that person for further information about who they have been in contact with. The state asks that 90% of people who test positive are reached within 24 hours of the positive test as part of a county moving into Phase 2.
The county health department said, during the past two weeks, 81% of the time the investigations team conducted an interview within 24 hours of a positive result.
The state also has a target for 80% of close contacts to be identified and reached with 48 hours of the positive result. The county reported 89% of contacts have been interviewed since May 18.
Some data collection has gone missing, the application says.
“We had a high number of contacts with missing data (about half) in our internal database,” it says.
Contact tracing expansion is estimated to cost $16.2 million. Pierce County has approved $1.27 million for IT equipment and training, as well as hiring up to 15 additional contact and case investigators for six months.
Dammeier said Sunday there are 79 county employees on stand-by and ready to be trained as contact investigators.
“We’re committed to making sure that we don’t fall back, that we have the resources and the systems committed to make sure that we don’t retrench,” he said.
▪ Hard-hit communities: In the application, the state asks for details on the response for communities disproportionally impacted by the virus.
The health department created an equity team to reach communities most affected and plans to train 15-30 community health workers and community leaders to hold listening sessions.
Providing accessible public health communications to protect communities of color, including outreach on Spanish-speaking community radio, is planned.
Case investigators and contact tracers from vulnerable communities will also be recruited.
The plan also emphasizes creating accessible and equitable access to testing.
▪ Congregate outbreaks: Counties with a population of 300,000 or more, like Pierce County, should aim to have two or fewer outbreaks at workplaces or living facilities under Phase 2 guidance.
An outbreak is considered by the state as two or more “non-household cases where transmission occurred at work, in congregate living, or in an institutional setting.”
There have been eight outbreaks meeting that criteria in the county since the week of May 3, but none last week, the application says.
Chen said the health department has been successful in its strategies for outbreaks.
▪ Hospitals: Both CHI Franciscan and MultiCare submitted letters included in Pierce County’s Phase 2 application.
Both said their hospitals can accommodate a 20% increase in suspected or confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations.
The state asked counties applying for Phase 2 to have less than 10% of beds occupied for suspected or confirmed cases.
“Overall suspected and confirmed COVID 19 patients account for 6.4% of all licensed Pierce County beds in acute care hospitals,” the application says.
The state also asks that fewer than 80% of total licensed beds are occupied. CHI Franciscan has 74% of beds occupied, while MultiCare has 62.9% occupied, the application says.
▪ PPE measures: Chen said Sunday residents need to continue to wear facial coverings and practice social distancing, while the state has guided all workers interacting with customers to wear masks.
Pierce County handed out free PPE to businesses earlier this month. About 1 million disposable masks and 20,000 digital thermometers will be provided to local businesses and nonprofits. The county is expecting another 1 million masks, Dammeier said.
“We just have to remember that 99% of the people in Pierce County have not been infected yet. They have no immunity to this,” Chen said Sunday. “We could very easily tip back over into a large surge and so you will hear later how we are preparing for that.”
SOUTH HILL MALL ANNOUNCES REOPENING PLANS
Updated 4:30 p.m.
The South Hill Mall in Puyallup announced plans to reopen Friday following Pierce County’s approval to move into Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s reopening plan.
The mall plans to reopen to shoppers Saturday, though some restaurants and businesses on site “may be opening at a later date or with alterations to their normal routine.”
According to the announcement on the mall’s website, while the mall itself will be open 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays, customers will need to check for individual store hours and information on in-store or curbside service.
Per guidance for Phase 2, malls must “apply in-store customer traffic management and sanitation guidance as it relates to additional customer common areas in all facilities” and “ensure all tenants adhere to curbside and/or in-store retail guidance.”
The South Hill Mall is owned and managed in association with the Cafaro family of companies, based in Niles, Ohio.
Joe Bell, the director of corporate communications for the Cafaro Co., told The News Tribune Friday a return to normal will be a gradual process.
“Not every business will open at once,” he said. “They may need to staff up or maybe need new merchandise, sometimes installing protective equipment and getting facial shields for cashiers. Those issues tend to delay some of the stores.”
Mall staff will wear face coverings in keeping with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and cleaning and sanitation will be “intensified, especially in high-touch areas,” the mall’s statement says.
Signs and physical barriers encouraging social distancing will also be in place.
Bell said there are also about 40 designated parking spaces for customers to come and pick up items ordered online. A list of stores offering curbside pickup is available on the mall’s website.
The mall is also “developing an easy way for locally-based PPE manufacturers and retailers of such gear to get their products to the people who need them,” the announcement says.
“Local manufacturers and retailers of PPE may qualify for FREE rent at the PPE Marketplace.”
PIERCE COUNTY REPORTS 9 NEW COVID-19 CASES, 1 DEATH
Updated 2:30 p.m.
Pierce County reported nine new COVID-19 cases Friday. One additional death – a South Hill man in his 100s with underlying health conditions — was also reported.
The county’s totals are now at 2,018 cases and 79 deaths since the outbreak began.
The health department’s website says it has “stopped reporting deaths of COVID-19 patients whose cause of death was not attributed to the disease.”
Daily case totals can change as the county receives new information about cases, finds duplicate data or is assigned cases originally attributed to other counties.
There have been 29,285 tests conducted in the county with positive results at 6.8%, according to the state Department of Health.
That total does not include negative tests from long-term care facilities or the 76,000 tests not yet assigned to a county.
Friday’s geographical case totals are listed below with Thursday’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 48 (no change)
▪ Central Pierce County: 146 (145)
▪ East Pierce County: 58 (no change)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 93 (no change)
▪ Frederickson: 66 (65)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 55 (54)
▪ Graham: 64 (62)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 7 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 50 (no change)
▪ Lakewood: 209 (208)
▪ Parkland: 120 (118)
▪ Puyallup: 143 (no change)
▪ South Hill: 105 (no change)
▪ South Pierce County: 38 (no change)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 21 (no change)
▪ Spanaway: 66 (no change)
▪ Tacoma: 649 (648)
▪ University Place: 69 (no change)
▪ Unknown: 11 (no change)
Daily reports include cases received by 11:59 p.m. the previous day.
PIERCE COUNTY APPROVED FOR PHASE 2
Updated 2 p.m.
Pierce County’s application for Phase 2 of the state’s reopening plan amid the COVID-19 pandemic was approved Thursday along with five other counties.
Clark, Okanogan, Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom were also approved to move to the second phase. Columbia, Ferry, Garfield, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Stevens and Wahkiakum were all approved to move into Phase 3.
King County was approved to move into a modified version of Phase 1.
In the second phase of Gov. Jay Inslee’s plan to reopen the state, restrictions on businesses like restaurants, barber shops and hair and nail salons will be relaxed, while retail will also be able to resume in a limited capacity.
The county submitted its application Tuesday, and the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, as well as county officials, have said it is now more important than ever that safety guidelines like wearing masks and maintaining 6 feet of physical distance from others are followed.
“While we are eager to see some of the restrictions lifted, I urge our community to continue with the practices that protect themselves, their families and our community,” Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier said in a statement.
According to the health department, here is a list of what is allowed in Phase 2:
▪ Recreation: Outdoor recreation like biking, camping, running or trips to the beach can resume when 6 feet of physical distance can be maintained.
▪ Social and spiritual gatherings: Social visits with five friends or non-household members can resume. Outside faith-based gatherings can resume with 100 people or less, not including staff, though indoor gatherings must be limited to 50 people or 25% capacity not including staff, whichever is less.
▪ Travel: Essential business travel as well as nonessential business and recreational travel can resume.
▪ Businesses and employers: All manufacturing, construction, in-home or domestic services, nannies, housecleaning, retail (with restrictions on in-shore purchases), real estate, professional services/office-based businesses, barber, hair and nail salon and pet grooming operations may resume. Restaurants and taverns can reopen at 50% capacity with table sizes no larger than five people, and without bar seating.
COVID-19 RELIEF CONCERT RESCHEDULED
Updated 10 a.m.
All in WA, the statewide relief effort organized in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, announced Thursday it would reschedule its planned relief concert for June 24.
“We recognize the pain and injustice the Black and African American community is facing, once again, and the need to honor the ongoing marches, protests, and organizing,” organizers wrote in a statement. “We also want to give space for our community to focus on what matters most at the moment; acknowledging and addressing systemic racism and violence that dehumanizes Black people and families, and taking steps to build to a new reality. We recognize that for many in our community and country, this grief and trauma are nothing new, and the effects are compounding.”
The concert, which features a lineup of popular local artists including Allen Stone, Ben Gibbard, The Black Tones, Brandi Carlile, Ciara, Dave Matthews, Macklemore, Mary Lambert, Pearl Jam, Sir Mix-A-Lot and more to be announced.
It will be streamed live beginning at 7 p.m. on June 24 on Amazon Music’s Twitch channel and through AllinWA.org. It will also air on KING 5, KONG, KREM, KSKN, KVEW/KAPP and KGW Portland subchannel 8.2.
Immediately following the live stream, the concert will be available for streaming on Prime Video.
KEXP is a radio sponsor.
STATE MAKES SOME PROGRESS ON JOBLESS CLAIMS
Updated 9 a.m.
About $333 million has been recovered from false jobless claims in Washington so far, state Employment Security Department Commissioner Suzi LeVine said Thursday.
It is estimated the state has lost between $550-$650 million total.
LeVine said Thursday both the amounts recovered and lost would likely change.
Though progress has been made, the department and LeVine continue to face criticism about delayed claims, including some still not paid from the outset of the pandemic and statewide stay-at-home order.
“We hear you, and we take to heart every one of the thousands of messages we’ve received,” LeVine said Thursday during a briefing, and added the department was “entirely focused on how we can do better.”
“There are far too many who’ve been waiting for far too long,” she said.
For the week beginning May 24, the department received filings for 31,224 initial regular unemployment claims, down 36% from the previous week. There were 774,959 total claims filed for all unemployment benefit categories, down 155,423 from the previous week.
In Pierce County, initial regular claims decreased from 6,348 to 4,069, a drop of 36%.
Several factors, including fraud prevention measures and more people returning to work, have contributed to the decrease in claims, the department said in a Thursday release.
The fraud investigation over false filings that enveloped the statewide system and Pierce County has caused processed claims to lag behind more, adding to an already slow process due to an overwhelmed system that has seen a record number of filings since March.
About 215,000 were waiting to be processed and vetted through the state’s enhance fraud check in May. That number should be down to about 90,000 in the next few days, LeVine said.
The department’s Operation 100 Percent was launched in May to resolve initial claims dating before May 1, but is in a two-week delay due to the enhance process to ensure claims aren’t fraudulent. As of June 1, more than 40,000 claims were still in adjudication processes.
As of May 30, the state has paid 826,123 individual claims, totaling about $4.9 billion.
INSLEE URGES THOSE WITH MILD SYMPTOMS TO BE TESTED FOR COVID-19
Updated 8 a.m.
Gov. Jay Inslee encouraged those experiencing mild symptoms to get tested for COVID-19 during a press conference Thursday, as testing capabilities expand.
He also urged medical providers to make sure patients are given tests if they say they have virus-like symptoms.
“Now is the time to really ramp up the testing for folks who have these symptoms,” Inslee said Thursday.
During the first two months of the pandemic, due to a lack of supplies, the state asked younger people, those with mild symptoms and those who do not have chronic diseases to stay home, in order to prioritize higher risk groups.
“There weren’t enough testing supplies available and secondly, our clinics and others were not necessarily prepared to handle people safely with the infection control precautions,” state Secretary of Health John Wiesman said.
But, with testing now more readily available, the state’s residents will have to “unlearn” some of the earlier messaging, Wiesman said.
“If you think you have symptoms, even mild, of COVID-19, please get tested,” Inslee said. “Second, if you are a household member of a person who has the suspicion of COVID-19 or who has come into contact with someone, please get tested.
“While you are waiting for your test results, we need you to stay home until you get a negative test, and that includes people in your household.”
The broader testing strategy will involve many congregate settings where positive tests have been confirmed, such as long-term care facilities, homeless shelters, high-density low-income housing, meat-packing plants and agricultural sites.
Inslee has repeatedly pointed to the importance of testing, contact tracing, isolation of those who test positive and wearing facial coverings as importance measures as the state gradually reopens its businesses and social distancing declines.
Wiesman said public health officials have identified more symptoms of COVID-19 as the pandemic has continued. In addition to fever, chills, cough and shortness of breath, newer identified symptoms include fatigue, muscle or body aches, headaches, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
He said testing equity is a major focus in the expanded strategy.
“We know that people with lower incomes, the elderly, people of color, and immigrant and refugee communities are suffering more from the COVID pandemic than are others,” Wiesman said. “These communities do need to be prioritized and we have to ensure that we are reaching them in culturally and linguistically appropriate ways.”
Information about testing locations can be found on the state’s website.
J.C. PENNEY STORES IN WASHINGTON REMAINING OPEN FOR NOW
Updated 8 a.m.
J.C. Penney, which filed for bankruptcy reorganization in May, announced 154 store closings Thursday, impacting stores in 40 states.
While stores in both Idaho and Oregon will be impacted, no Washington stores were listed among the initial closures.
The J.C. Penney locations at the Tacoma Mall and Puyallup’s South Hill Mall await the go-ahead to reopen when Pierce County moves into the second phase of Gov. Jay Inslee’s COVID-19 reopening plan.
“We will continue to operate the majority of our stores and our flagship store, jcp.com, to ensure our valued customers continue to have access to the products and brands they need and want,” the retailer said in a statement on its website Thursday.
The statement also listed the initial closures, which include six locations in the Pacific Northwest.
J.C. Penney is one of several retailers that has been financially forced to shut down stores in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and has plans to close more locations in the coming months.
The retailer announced in May it would close 192 stores by February, and another 50 in 2021, leaving 604 total locations. Before the pandemic, it had about 860 nationwide.
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Coronavirus updates: Pierce County approved for Phase 2; county reports 9 cases, 1 death."
