7 more Thurston residents die due to COVID-19 as virus activity continues to fall
Thurston County confirmed seven more deaths due to COVID-19 and 674 additional cases of the virus over the past week as disease activity continues to decline.
Four men died due to COVID-19: two in their 70s, one in their 80s and one in his 90s. Three women also died: one in her 70s and two in their 80s.
Public Health and Social Services confirmed the cases and deaths between Feb. 14-20, but they did not necessarily all occur that week. In all, PHSS has recorded 43,842 cases and 314 deaths from March 2020 to Sunday, according to a weekly report.
From Feb. 7-13, the county reported 990 cases and 14 deaths. The highest weekly case count on record was 3,899 cases the week of Jan. 17-23. This peak came as the more transmissible Omicron variant dominated the state.
With disease activity declining, the state lifted its outdoor mask mandate on Feb. 18 and plans to lift its indoor mask mandates by March 21. Though progress has been made, state data from earlier this month indicates rates of infection remain higher than during previous waves of the coronavirus.
The county’s case rate per 100,000 people fell to 1,280 from Jan. 23 to Feb. 5. The record high rate was 3,009 from Jan. 2-15, according to the latest data. This was far higher than the previous record of 529 from Aug. 18-31.
The state Department of Health did not update its COVID-19 data dashboard on Monday due to the Presidents Day holiday, so more current data was not available.
Outbreaks
Regarding outbreaks, the county reports it was investigating 45 ongoing outbreaks at congregate care settings as of Sunday. So far, there have been 184 such outbreaks — five more than the previous week.
Since the start of the pandemic, these outbreaks have resulted in 685 cases and nine deaths, according to the weekly report. Six deaths occurred at an assisted living facility, two at a nursing facility and one at a supportive living facility.
In school settings, the county reported nine closures involving 38 cases the week of Feb. 7-13 and three closures involving 12 cases the week of Feb. 14-20.
North Thurston Public Schools saw the most outbreaks. From Feb. 7-13, the district had eight closures involving 33 cases. The following week, the district had two closures involving nine cases.
Meanwhile, the data indicates the Olympia School District had one closure due to three cases the week of Feb. 14-20.
A private school also experienced a closure that resulted from five cases the week of Feb. 7-13, per the data.
Hospitalizations
The county confirmed eight new hospitalizations over the past week. Since the start of the pandemic, the data show 1,990 Thurston County residents with COVID-19 have been hospitalized at some point.
About 75% of county residents who were hospitalized had a known underlying condition, according to the weekly report. However, it’s possible some others had an unknown underlying condition. Among the 314 who have died, the report says all had a known underlying condition.
There were about 27.1 hospitalizations per 100,000 people between Jan. 30 to Feb. 5, according to the latest state data. This rate fell from a record high of 38.5 from Jan. 19-25.
Hospitalizations increased significantly starting in early December during the onset of the Omicron wave. During the previous Delta variant wave, the county’s record was 19.9 between Aug. 20-26.
As of Feb. 17, about 88.7% of Intensive Care Unit beds over a seven-day period were occupied in the West region, which includes Thurston County and some of its neighbors. The data show 17.5% of ICU beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Hospitals in the region were 94.3% full over a seven-day period as of Feb. 17, per the data, while COVID-19 patients accounted for 19.2%.
From February 2021 to January, state data show 57.7% of recorded cases (17,586) in Thurston County were in unvaccinated individuals. Meanwhile, 37.9% of cases (11,550) were in fully vaccinated individuals, per state data.
Across the state, those who were unvaccinated accounted for 71.7% (4,282) of all confirmed 12 and older COVID-19 deaths from Feb. 1, 2021, to Jan. 18, 2022.
Those partially vaccinated made up 5% (298) of deaths and those fully vaccinated made up 23.3% (1,388) of deaths, the data show.
PHSS does not share the vaccination status of those who die or are hospitalized 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 64% of all Thurston residents were fully vaccinated as of Feb. 16, and 71.3% had initiated vaccinations, per state data.
Of those, the data show 75.4% of Thurston County residents 5 and older — all those eligible for vaccinations — have initiated vaccinations and 68.1% had been fully vaccinated.
As of Feb. 14, 80.5% of the state population 5 and older had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 72.7% had been fully vaccinated.
The state percentages include aggregate data from the Department of Defense and Veteran Affairs, both of which are not entirely reflected in the state’s data dashboard.
In Thurston County, the state reports 97,000 people (about 33%) have received a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Feb. 16. Across the state, nearly 2.6 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.
PHSS is now closing its Capital Mall vaccination clinic on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The clinic will still be open the rest of the week.
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.
People can get PCR tests at pharmacies such as Rite Aid and Walgreens, but availability may be limited due to demand.
Over-the-counter COVID-19 antigen tests are also available at pharmacies and on-order from the state Department of Health and federal government.
In the region
Pierce County had confirmed 176,014 total COVID-19 cases with 1,226 deaths as of Tuesday. Pierce County has a population of about 927,000.
Grays Harbor County has seen a total of 15,684 cases with 178 deaths as of Feb. 17, according to state data. Grays Harbor County has a population of about 75,000.
Lewis County has had a total of 17,098 confirmed and probable cases with 215 deaths as of Feb. 17, per state data. Lewis County has a population of almost 83,000.
Mason County has reported 10,830 confirmed cases with 125 deaths as of Tuesday. Mason County has a population of about 69,000.
In the state, nation and world
The state of Washington has confirmed over 1.4 million COVID-19 cases and 11,235 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic to Feb. 17.
In the U.S., about 78.7 million COVID-19 cases had been reported as of Wednesday with over 939,700 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The U.S. population is about 330 million.
Globally, more than 428.6 million people had contracted the virus and over 5.9 million people had died of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, the data show.
This story was originally published February 23, 2022 at 2:08 PM.
