11 more Thurston residents die of COVID-19 as test positivity rate hits record
Thurston County confirmed 11 residents died and 675 contracted COVID-19 in the past week as the virus continues to surge here.
Six women died due to COVID-19 including four in their 60s, one in their 80s and one in her 90s; five men died, including one in his 60s, one in his 70s, two in their 80s and one in his 90s.
The cases and deaths were added from Sept. 13-19.
There have been 16,847 cases and 150 deaths in the county from March 2020 to Sunday, according to Thurston County Public Health and Social Services. The county considers 14,733 cases recovered or recovering as of Monday — meaning more than 2,000 cases are still active.
For the seventh week in a row, the weekly case count has surpassed 600. During this time, Thurston County has seen elevated levels of disease transmission spurred by the more infectious delta variant.
The county’s two-week case rate fell to 460.1 per 100,000 people between Aug. 30 and Sept. 12, per the latest complete data from the state Department of Health. The recent record high case rate was 521.7 between Aug. 11-24, the data show.
About 25.2% of molecular COVID-19 tests returned positive results between Aug. 24-30, 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, PHSS director Schelli Slaughter previously said. PHSS offers testing at various locations throughout the county, but this is limited to people with symptoms or may have been exposed by a close contact.
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.
Since the start of the pandemic, PHSS data show 1,072 people with COVID-19 have at some point been hospitalized.
Hospitalization still high
All intensive care unit beds in Thurston County were occupied Tuesday morning, PHSS director Schelli Slaughter said during a Board of County Commissioners meeting.
About 97% of acute beds were in use as well, she said, but she noted that hospital capacity can change throughout the day.
As of Tuesday morning, 53 patients remained hospitalized with COVID-19 and 44 of them were on ventilators, Slaughter said.
Four people had died that morning, she added.
Hospitalizations in Thurston County remained high into early September. The state reports the county had a hospitalization rate of 15.1 per 100,000 people between Sept. 5-11. The county reached a peak of 19.6 between Aug. 20-26, the data show.
A record 10 people died of COVID-19 at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia within a 24-hour period from Sept. 15-16, the county reported.
These deaths are not included in the county’s total for the past week due to a delay in official death reports, Slaughter said.
“So we know that the death toll is much higher in Thurston County this (past) week that what we’re reporting this morning,” Slaughter said.
As a regional hospital, St. Peter treats patients from surrounding counties as well, so the 10 people who died may not all be from Thurston County.
The county does not describe the vaccination status of the people who have died. However, a state report from Sept. 15 indicates unvaccinated people 12 to 34 years old are six times more likely to get COVID-19 and 30 times more likely to be hospitalized than those who are fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, the report says unvaccinated people ages 35 to 64 years old are five times more likely to contract COVID-19 and 21 times more likely to be hospitalized.
Lastly, unvaccinated people 65 and older are four times more likely to get COVID-19, nine times more likely to be hospitalized and eight times more likely to die due to the virus than those who are fully vaccinated, per the state.
Vaccine progress
Just 54.9% of all Thurston residents were fully vaccinated as of Saturday, Sept. 18 and 59.5% had initiated vaccinations, per state data. The county’s total vaccination percentages have increased by single-digit percentage points in the past week.
However. over the past week, the county finally passed its goal to initiate vaccinations in at least 70% of residents 16 and older nearly three months after the state’s reopening deadline. State data indicates 70.5% of Thurston residents in this age group have initiated vaccinations and 64.3% have been fully vaccinated.
As of Monday, 75.8% of the state population 12 and older had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 68.9% 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, 69.3% of Thurston County residents 12 and older have initiated vaccinations and 63.1% had been fully vaccinated as of Sept. 18.
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 78,075 total COVID-19 cases with 748 deaths as of Monday.
▪ Grays Harbor County has seen a total of 6,973 confirmed and probable cases, with 98 deaths as of Sunday, according to state data.
▪ Lewis County has had a total of 8,503 confirmed and probable cases with 107 deaths as of Sunday, per state data.
▪ Mason County has reported 3,660 confirmed cases with 52 deaths as of Monday.
In the state, nation and world
The state of Washington has reported a total of 628,488 COVID-19 cases and 7,271 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
In the U.S., nearly 42.3 million cases had been reported as of Monday with 676,000 deaths.
Globally, more than 229 million people had contracted the virus and over 4.7 million people had died of COVID-19 as of Monday, the data show.
This story was originally published September 21, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
