Thurston County adds 21 COVID-19 cases Tuesday as state releases vaccine data
Thurston County reported 21 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths Tuesday as vaccine eligibility expanded.
The county has seen 5,850 cases and 61 deaths since the first case was reported in March, according to the latest data from Thurston County Public Health and Social Services. In all, the data show 326 people have been hospitalized at some point in their illness and 4,687 have recovered or are recovering.
Additionally, 10% of COVID-19 tests have returned positive results over the last week, a higher percentage than the previous week.
To date, there have been 42 outbreaks at congregate care facilities. The health department is currently investigating six such outbreaks including one that occurred at the Thurston County jail last week, said director Schelli Slaughter at an county board of commissioners meeting Tuesday.
The outbreak at the jail involved three employees and eight inmates who tested positive, according to the health department. Thurston County Sheriff John Snaza confirmed the outbreak Friday and said he too tested positive.
The department previously announced it would conduct another round of testing at the facility on Tuesday.
Metrics to watch
Slaughter said 90% of beds in Thurston County hospitals are occupied with 16% occupied by COVID-19 patients. She said 20% of intensive care unit beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Thurston County and its region in the statewide reopening plan have made some improvement on the four key data points the state is measuring. She said COVID-19 case rates are decreasing in the region and hospital admission rates are flattening overall, but cautioned that the data is one to two weeks old.
Thurston County remains in Phase 1 along with Lewis, Grays Harbor and Pacific counties in the greater West region, as well as the state as a whole. Data released Friday indicates the West region is meeting 3 of 4 metrics after meeting just 1 of 4 on Jan. 8.
Vaccinations underway
The state reported providers have given at least 8,473 vaccine doses in Thurston County as of Jan. 16. Statewide, 294,386 doses have been given, which is about 42% of doses delivered, according to state data.
The Department of Health started sharing vaccine data on its COVID-19 dashboard Tuesday. This data comes from healthcare providers that are required to report to the state within 24 hours when they give a vaccine, according to a news release.
Most vaccine data should be posted within a week of a vaccine being given, the release read. However, the available state data does not break down how many vaccine doses have been delivered by county.
Authorized Thurston County facilities have received 9,450 vaccine doses and 5,388 Thurston County residents were vaccinated last week, Slaughter said Tuesday.
On Monday, the state moved into Phase 1B of its vaccination plan, and expanded who is eligible in this phase. Now, anyone 65 or older, or over 50 and living in multi-generational households, are eligible for the vaccine.
Slaughter clarified that those living in multi-generational households only means people over 50 that are living with and caring for children who are not their own. It does not include healthy parents over 50 caring for their own child. Those who are unsure of what phase they fit into can verify their eligibility through an online form created by the state called findyourphasewa.org.
The Olympian has also compiled a list of authorized facilities where those who are eligible can make an appointment to receive the vaccine.
In the region
▪ Pierce County on Tuesday announced 177 new cases and five new deaths. The county has reported 30,264 cases and 365 deaths total.
▪ Grays Harbor County had 2,737 confirmed and probable cases as of Tuesday with 28 deaths.
▪ Lewis County reported 12 new cases on Tuesday for a total of 2,638 cases and 31 deaths.
▪ Mason County reported 30 new cases on Tuesday for a total of 1,496 cases with 18 deaths.
▪ Pacific County reported a total of 604 cases with eight deaths Tuesday.
Around the state, nation and world
The state Department of Health reported 291,989 confirmed and probable cases and 3,940 deaths.
In the U.S., 24.3 million cases had been reported as of Wednesday with 404,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Globally, over 96.6 million cases had been reported and more than 2 million people had died as of Wednesday, the data show.
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 6:23 PM.
