Thurston County announces second death tied to COVID-19
A second Thurston County resident has died from COVID-19, Thurston County Public Health and Social Services announced late Sunday.
The man, who had been hospitalized, was in his 80s and underlying health conditions contributed to his death, the county said. He had been a resident of Olympics West Retirement Inn in Tumwater, the site of a recent outbreak.
The first county death tied to the disease also was a man in his 80s, reported in March.
Multiple confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been identified at Olympics West and at an adult family home in Lacey called Infinite Care in recent days. One person who tested positive for the virus worked at both sites.
More testing of staff and residents at Olympics West was set to take place Monday, according to the county.
“This death reminds us that we must remain diligent in our efforts to protect one another from this virus,” Thurston County Health Officer Dr. Diana Yu said in a statement. “We must continue to social distance, to wear masks whenever we cannot social distance, and to stay home when we are ill. Washing our hands regularly also remains an important preventative measure.”
The county says that people with any symptoms of COVID-19 — fever, cough, trouble breathing, headache, body aches, chills, sore throat, new loss of taste/smell, fatigue, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, and congestion/runny nose — should isolate themselves from others and seek testing immediately through their health care provider.
Testing is also available through a Providence drive-through testing site in Hawks Prairie. For more information on the drive-through, call Providence at 360-486-6800.
As of Sunday, there had been 170 confirmed cases in Thurston County. Of those cases, 24 have been hospitalized at some point during their illness, 130 have recovered and two people have died.
This story was originally published June 8, 2020 at 8:56 AM.
