8 more Thurston County residents die of COVID-19 as mask mandate eases, cases fall
Thurston County confirmed eight more deaths due to COVID-19 and 177 additional cases over the past week while disease activity continued to fall.
Five men died due to the virus: one in his 20s, one in his 40s and three in their 70s. Three women also died: two in their 50s and one in her 70s.
The man in his 20s is the second youngest person to die in Thurston County due to the virus. The youngest was between 10 and 20 last September.
Public Health and Social Services confirmed the cases and deaths between March 7-13, but they did not necessarily all occur that week. In all, PHSS has recorded 44,898 cases and 345 deaths from COVID-19 between March 2020 to Sunday.
Of that total, PHSS considers 44,500 cases as recovered or recovering, meaning about 398 confirmed cases remained active as of Monday.
From Feb. 28 to March 6, PHSS reported 254 cases and 17 deaths. The county’s weekly case count peaked at 3,899 cases the week of Jan. 17-23 during the height of the Omicron wave.
The county’s case rate per 100,000 people fell to 151.9 from Feb. 20 to March 5 — a rate not seen since mid-July. The record high case rate of 3,042.3 was set from Jan. 2-15.
The state eased its indoor mask mandate on March 12. However, masks are still required in health care settings, correctional facilities, and shelters and on public transportation.
In a Friday letter to the community, Thurston County Health Officer Dimyana Abdelmalek advised residents to continue taking precautions while adjusting to new policies.
“This is a transition point in the pandemic and as I look at local COVID-19 transmission and hospitalization rates I am hopeful,” the letter says. “I am continuing to monitor reported COVID-19 outbreaks, COVID-19 transmission dynamics, and COVID-19 hospitalization metrics so that we can respond if the situation changes.”
To avoid contracting COVID-19, Abdelmalek recommended staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, avoiding crowded areas, wearing a mask when necessary and staying home when sick or getting tested.
Outbreaks and hospitalizations
The county reports it was investigating 18 ongoing outbreaks at congregate care settings as of Monday. There have been 185 such outbreaks reported during the pandemic, with none added over the previous two weeks.
At school settings, the county reported no outbreaks since Feb. 21.
PHSS confirmed nine hospitalizations over the past week. Since the start of the pandemic, the data show 2,158 Thurston County residents with COVID-19 have been hospitalized at some point in their illness.
About 75% of county residents who were hospitalized had a known underlying condition, according to a March 1 weekly report. However, it’s possible additional patients had an unknown underlying condition.
Among the 399 who had died as of March 6, the report says 100% had a known underlying condition.
There were about 4.1 hospitalizations per 100,000 people from Feb. 27 to March 5, according to the latest state data. This rate fell from a record high of 37.8 from Jan. 9-15.
Hospitalizations increased significantly starting in early December but have been falling since mid-January. During the previous Delta variant wave, the county’s record was 19.9 hospitalizations per 100,000 between Aug. 20-26.
As of Sunday, 82.6% 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 4.6% of ICU beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Hospitals in the region were 89% full over a seven-day period, according to the data, while COVID-19 patients accounted for just 4.4%.
Vaccinations and tests
About 67% of all Thurston residents were fully vaccinated as of Saturday, and 74% had initiated vaccinations, according to state data.
Meanwhile, the data show 78.5% of Thurston County residents 5 and older have initiated vaccinations and 71.3% had been fully vaccinated.
As of March 7, 81% of the state population 5 and older had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 73.4% 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 58.4% of those 12 and older have received a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Saturday. Across the state, 58.1% of that population 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 also can 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 tested at pharmacies such as Rite Aid and Walgreens. 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 182,835 total COVID-19 cases with 1,282 deaths as of March 8. Pierce County has a population of about 927,000.
- Grays Harbor County has seen a total of 16,097 cases with 195 deaths as of Sunday, according to state data. Grays Harbor County has a population of about 75,000.
- Lewis County has had a total of 17,317 confirmed and probable cases with 234 deaths as of Sunday per state data. Lewis County has a population of almost 83,000.
- Mason County has reported 11,186 confirmed cases with 132 deaths as of Monday. 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 12,059 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
In the U.S., about 79.5 million COVID-19 cases had been reported as of Monday with over 968,700 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The U.S. population is about 330 million.
Globally, more than 458.8 million people had contracted the virus and over 6 million people had died of COVID-19 as of Monday, the data show.
This story was originally published March 15, 2022 at 1:05 PM.
