4 new cases of COVID-19 in Thurston County Saturday, no Phase 3 decision yet from state

Thurston County Public Health and Social Services on Saturday announced four new cases of COVID-19, all in people between the ages of 10 and 29.

The latest residents to be diagnosed are a girl and boy in the 10-19 age range and two women in their 20s. Since the first case was announced on March 11, 214 Thurston County residents have been diagnosed with the respiratory disease and five have died due to COVID-19 complications.

Of the 214 people diagnosed, 173 are considered “recovered” or are “recovering,” county data show.

As of Saturday, the county had not received a response from the state regarding its application to move from Phase 2 to Phase 3 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s four-phase plan to reopen the economy from shutdowns spurred by COVID-19. In a tweet Saturday morning, Thurston County Public Health clarified that the county remains in Phase 2, and that the state Department of Health is reviewing the application.

“As part of the routine process, we are having follow up discussions and responding to their questions,” the tweet reads. “As soon as we know more, we will share.”

In the region

• Pierce County announced 32 new cases and no new deaths from COVID-19 Saturday. The county has a total of 2,257 cases and 84 deaths.
• Lewis County did not announce any new cases Saturday and is reporting 49 total cases with three deaths.
• Mason County also had not announced new cases as of Saturday afternoon. The county has reported 41 cases of COVID-19 and one death related to the disease.
• Grays Harbor County identified a new case Friday, bringing its total to 24.

Around the state, nation, and world

• The Washington State Department of Health had not updated case numbers as of Saturday afternoon, so was still reporting 27,601 cases in the sate and 1,255 deaths.
• In the U.S., over 2.2 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and nearly 119,000 have died from the disease, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
• Globally, over 8.7 million people have been reported as having COVID-19 and 461,786 people have died as a result.

This story was originally published June 20, 2020 at 2:49 PM.

Sara Gentzler

The Olympian

360-754-5459

Sara Gentzler joined The Olympian in June 2019 as a county and courts reporter. She now covers Washington state government for The Olympian, The News Tribune, The Bellingham Herald, and Tri-City Herald. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Creighton University.