9 more Thurston residents die of COVID-19 as county posts record weekly case count
Nine more Thurston County residents died of COVID-19 last week amid a record 746 cases in the past week as the virus continues to surge.
Five women died due to COVID-19 including one in her 50s, two in their 60s, one in her 70s and another in her 80s; four men died, including one in his 50s, one in his 60s, one in his 70s and one in his 80s.
The cases and deaths were added between Sept. 6-12. There have been 16,172 cases and 139 deaths in the county from March 2020 to Sunday, according to Thurston County Public Health and Social Services.
Over the past six weeks, the weekly case count has been over 600 as the delta variant has contributed to an unprecedented resurgence in disease activity. August saw about triple the number of cases compared to July, the Olympian previously reported.
The county’s two-week case rate fell to 479.4 per 100,000 people between Aug. 23 and Sept. 5, per the latest complete data from the state Department of Health. The most recent record high case rate was 521.3 between Aug. 11-24, the data show.
Though the case rate appears to have decreased, data collected in the aftermath of Labor Day and the new school season may push up case rates.
Meanwhile, 21.5% of molecular COVID-19 tests returned positive results between Aug. 23-29, according to the latest state data. This is the highest test positivity rate the state has ever reported for Thurston County.
Testing has been in high demand amid the current wave of infections, said PHSS director Schelli Slaughter during a Tuesday morning Board of County Commissioners meeting.
“We’ve seen record numbers of people coming to our community testing sites with our mobile unit testing, at times, over 100 people a day at the site,” Slaughter said.
PHSS does not have the capacity to expand their testing operation beyond the five days a week currently offered, Slaughter said. A drive-through site like PHSS set up last year is not currently possible, she said.
People also can get tested at pharmacies such as Rite Aid and Walgreens, but appointments may be limited. Over-the- counter COVID-19 antigen tests also are available at pharmacies.
Local hospital occupancy remains critically high with 90.5% of intensive care unit beds and 84.8% of acute beds currently occupied, Slaughter told the county board.
“We do have critical staffing shortages in our hospitals,” Slaughter said. “There are currently 63 COVID patients admitted right now in Thurston County hospitals and 41 of those are on ventilators.”
Since the start of the pandemic, PHSS data show 1,034 people have at some point been hospitalized. The county considers 14,082 cases recovered or recovering as of Monday — meaning more than 2,000 cases are still active.
Vaccination progress
Slaughter said PHSS has noticed an uptick in vaccinations at its vaccination sites, perhaps owing to more vaccine mandates from the local, state and federal level employers.
“We highly encourage people who are subject to a vaccine mandate to please get vaccinated as soon as possible,” Slaughter said. “We have experienced some shortages of Johnson & Johnson vaccine as of late. We hope that will be resolved.”
Just 53.4% of all Thurston residents had been fully vaccinated as of Sept. 11 and 58.8% had initiated vaccinations, per state data. The county’s total vaccination percentages have increased by single-digit percentage points in the past week.
For those 16 and older, state data indicates 63.4% have been fully vaccinated and 69.6% have initiated vaccinations. The county is very close to its goal to initiate vaccinations in at least 70% of this population.
As of Monday, 75.1% of the state population 12 and older had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 68.1% had been fully vaccinated. This percentage includes aggregate data from the Department of Defense and Veteran Affairs, both of which are not entirely reflected in the state’s data dashboard.
For comparison, 68.4% of Thurston County residents 12 and older have initiated vaccinations and 62.2% had been fully vaccinated as of Sept. 11.
Thurston County PHSS is still offering free vaccination events every week. Events are listed on their coronavirus vaccine information website. Residents also can find appointments at local providers such as pharmacies by visiting the state’s Vaccine Locator website. Many supermarket pharmacies are taking walk-ins for vaccines.
Those who have difficulty scheduling appointments online can call the Department of Health vaccine hotline at 888-856-5816 or the Thurston County Public Health and Social Services line at 360-867-2610. Information for Spanish speakers is available at these numbers as well.
In the region
▪ Pierce County had confirmed 75,877 total COVID-19 cases with 727 deaths as of Monday.
▪ Grays Harbor County has seen a total of 6,546 confirmed and probable cases, with 94 deaths as of Sunday, according to state data.
▪ Lewis County has had a total of 8,069 confirmed and probable cases with 101 deaths as of Sunday, per state data.
▪ Mason County has reported 3,521 confirmed cases with 48 deaths as of Friday.
In the state, nation and world
The state of Washington has reported a total of 607,160 COVID-19 cases and 6,981 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
In the U.S., nearly 41.3 million cases had been reported as of Tuesday with 663,000 deaths.
Globally, more than 225.6 million people had contracted the virus and over 4.6 million people had died of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, the data show.
This story was originally published September 14, 2021 at 1:18 PM.
