36 cases of COVID-19 confirmed connected to Olympics West in Tumwater so far
A total of 36 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in connection with an outbreak at Olympics West Retirement Inn in Tumwater as of Wednesday, according to an update from Thurston County Public Health and Social Services, and four had died.
After two rounds of testing, 13 residents of the independent living and assisted living facility had been diagnosed along with 15 staff members, according to an update sent to The Olympian by Senior Epidemiologist Mary Ann O’Garro.
Of the staff members, nine live in Thurston County and six do not. People who test positive and live outside the county are not included in the county’s COVID-19 data.
Eight close contacts of facility staff also have tested positive for the respiratory disease and are included as part of the outbreak, seven of whom live in Thurston County. The contacts were identified through the contact tracing process used when Public Health investigates COVID-19 cases, according to an email from county spokesperson Meghan Porter.
As of Friday, there have been four deaths related to the outbreak, including a death the county announced Thursday. The deaths include three residents of Olympics West Retirement Inn and one close contact of an Olympics West staff member, Porter wrote in an email.
A second outbreak at the four-resident Infinite Care Adult Family Home in Lacey totaled three COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday, including a staff member who works at both care facilities.
One other staff member and one resident at the facility have tested positive, according to O’Garro’s update. Both staff members reportedly live in Thurston County, and the resident who tested positive was on hospice care and has died of causes unrelated to COVID-19, according to Public Health officials.
Investigations into the outbreaks are ongoing, according to the update.
At a county commission meeting Tuesday, Acting Health Officer Dr. Diana Yu told commissioners an outbreak is considered finished after there have been two incubation period cycles without a new case. When a new case is found, she said, it moves the target.
Both outbreaks were discovered as Thurston County entered Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s plan to reopen the economy from shutdowns meant to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Between May 27, when the county entered Phase 2, and June 17, when the county applied to enter Phase 3, the county announced 68 new cases of the disease in residents. As of Friday, the county was still awaiting the state’s response to its Phase 3 application.
Thurston County had recorded 210 confirmed cases total, as of Friday, since announcing its first case March 11. Five residents have died due to complications related to the illness, while 173 of those diagnosed are considered “recovered” or “recovering.”