Thurston County’s weekly COVID-19 case count reaches record heights yet again
Update: Thurston County confirmed 3,573 cases from Jan. 10-16, according to data updated on Tuesday. A previous version of this article noted the county added 3,749 based on data available on Monday.
One Thurston County woman in her 70s died of COVID-19 last week, and the county logged 3,573 new cases from Jan. 10-16.
There have been 30,924 confirmed cases and 259 deaths in the county from March 2020 to Monday, according to Public Health and Social Services.
PHSS considered 26,174 cases recovered or recovering on Monday — meaning 4,750 cases remained active. The previous week, the county reported 3,632 cases and six deaths.
Disease activity has not abated since the more transmissible Omicron variant arrived in early December. About 99.5% of recorded new cases across the United States were caused by Omicron from Jan. 9-15, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
State data for Thurston County indicates its disease transmission rate continued to rise, this time reaching an alarming 1,949.8 per 100,000 people from Dec. 23 to Jan. 5. During the first two weeks of December, the county had a case rate of 284.5.
The previous record high case rate in the county was 523 from Aug. 19 to Sept. 1, the data show.
The county reports it’s responding to 45 ongoing outbreaks at congregate care settings. As of Monday, there have been 152 such outbreaks.
PHSS data indicates there were no school closures due to outbreaks from Dec. 27 to Jan. 9, but most schools were on break during part of that time. However, there were 12 closures from Dec. 20-26.
Since the start of the pandemic, the data show 1,648 people with COVID-19 have been hospitalized at some point. Last week, the county noted 12 people had been hospitalized.
The state reports the county had a record high hospitalization rate of 25.8 per 100,000 people between Dec. 30 to Jan. 5.
Hospitalizations have been rising since mid-December. The county’s previous record rate was 19.9 between Aug. 20-26.
As of Friday, about 89.2% of ICU beds over a seven-day period were occupied in the West region, which includes Thurston County and some of its neighbors. The data show 47.4% of ICU beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Hospitals in the region were 88.3% full over a seven-day period as of Friday, per the data, while COVID-19 patients accounted for 34.1%.
From February to December in 2021, state data show 67.5% of recorded cases (12,311) in Thurston County were in unvaccinated individuals. Meanwhile, 28% of cases (5,106) were in fully vaccinated individuals, per state data.
Across the state, those who were unvaccinated accounted for 75.3% (3,641) of all 12 and older COVID-19 deaths from Feb. 1 to Dec. 14, 2021. Those partially vaccinated made up 5.3% (255) of deaths and those fully vaccinated made up 19.4% (937) of deaths, the data show.
PHSS does not share the vaccination status of those who die due to COVID-19 in Thurston County because they do not have access to that data, a county spokesperson previously said.
Vaccinations and tests
About 61% of all Thurston residents were fully vaccinated as of Jan. 12, and 67% had initiated vaccinations, per state data.
Meanwhile, the data show 78.1% of Thurston County residents 12 and older have initiated vaccinations and 72.4% had been fully vaccinated.
As of Jan. 10, 78.3% of the state population 5 and older had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 71.1% 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.
The state reports 83,823 people (about 28%) in Thurston County have received a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Across the state, just over 2 million people have gotten a booster.
Thurston County PHSS continues to offer free vaccination events, including for booster shots, every week. Events are listed on their coronavirus vaccine information website.
Eligible residents can also find appointments at local providers such as pharmacies by visiting the state’s Vaccine Locator website.
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.
Residents with symptoms or positive close contacts can get tested at the Thurston County Fairgrounds on weekdays through at least Jan. 19. PHSS set up the drive-through mass testing site on Jan. 5 in response to the surge in disease activity.
Staff at the site can test 300 people a day, county spokesperson Magen Johnson previously said. Residents are advised to arrive no later than 10 a.m. The last patient will be tested at 12:50 p.m., per the county.
There have been no updates to COVID-19 testing data since Sept. 15. PHSS says the state Department of Health paused this data release to increase capacity so it can process an increasing number of tests.
The DOH does not expect to restart its reporting of testing data until about Feb. 28 due to an “unexpected delay,” according to its data dashboard. The release of this data has been repeatedly delayed.
People also can get tested at pharmacies such as Rite Aid and Walgreens, but availability may be limited due to increased demand. Over-the- counter COVID-19 antigen tests may also be available at pharmacies if supplies last.
In the region
- Pierce County had confirmed 127,597 total COVID-19 cases with 998 deaths as of Jan. 11. Pierce County has a population of about 927,000.
- Grays Harbor County has seen a total of 11,909 confirmed and probable cases, with 164 deaths as of Jan. 13, according to state data. Grays Harbor County has a population of about 75,000.
- Lewis County has had a total of 13,110 confirmed and probable cases with 201 deaths as of Jan. 13, per state data. Lewis County has a population of almost 83,000.
- Mason County has reported 7,342 confirmed cases with 101 deaths as of Jan. 14. Mason County has a population of about 69,000.
In the state, nation and world
The state of Washington has reported a total of 1,041,456 COVID-19 cases and 10,196 deaths from the beginning of the pandemic to Jan. 13.
In the U.S., about 66.9 million COVID-19 cases had been reported as of Tuesday with over 852,700 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The U.S. population is about 330 million.
Globally, more than 332.5 million people had contracted the virus and over 5.5 million people had died of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, the data show.
This story was originally published January 19, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
