Thurston County confirms 807 COVID-19 cases last week as omicron continues to spread
COVID-19 transmission rates rose again in Thurston County over the past week, prompting the health officer to advise some people to return to masking.
Public Health and Social Services confirmed 807 new COVID-19 cases the week of May 16-22. An additional 53 cases were added on Monday.
No new deaths have been confirmed since April 28.
In all, Thurston County has recorded 48,616 cases and 369 deaths from March 2020 to Sunday. Of that total, PHSS considers 47,647 cases as recovered or recovering, meaning 1,303 confirmed cases remained active as of Monday.
From May 9-15, PHSS reported 631 cases and no deaths. Weekly case counts have been steadily increasing since mid-April.
As of Sunday, the state Department of Health considers disease activity to be “high” in Thurston County. Four weeks ago, the DOH described activity as “substantial.”
The county’s case rate per 100,000 people reached 430.2 from May 1-14, according to the state. This is up from a recent low rate of 67.4 from March 16-29.
The record high case rate was 3,110 from Jan. 2-15.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also increased the county’s COVID-19 Community Level from “low” to “medium” on Thursday, indicating higher risk.
In a Friday letter to the community, Thurston County Health Officer Dimyana Abdelmalek said the CDC changed the level due to transmission rates surpassing 200 cases per 100,0000 over a seven-day period.
As a result, Abdelmalek advised people who are at high risk for severe disease to consider masking in public indoor spaces or plan for rapid testing as needed. Her recommendation extends to those who are often in contact with people at high risk.
“Staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations, avoiding poorly ventilated spaces, and testing for COVID-19 when symptomatic or in close contact with someone with COVID-19 during their infectious period, and following CDC recommendations for isolation and quarantine are other key ways to stay safe and prevent spread of COVID-19,” Abdelmalek wrote.
Outbreaks and hospitalizations
In a letter to the community, Abdelmalek wrote that COVID-19 outbreaks have been increasing in Thurston County.
PHSS was investigating 21 ongoing outbreaks at congregate care settings as of Sunday. So far, there have been 209 such outbreaks – eight more than the previous week.
In school settings, PHSS reported four closures and 24 cases from April 18-24. No outbreaks were reported April 25 to May 1.
From April 19-24, one closure involving eight cases affected a setting in the Tumwater School District. Meanwhile, North Thurston Public Schools saw two closures involving 14 cases in school settings and one closure involving five cases at an extracurricular setting. However, three of the five cases overlapped, according to the data.
PHSS confirmed 12 new hospitalizations occurred over the past week. Since the start of the pandemic, the data show 2,334 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 May 18 weekly report. However, it’s possible some had an unknown underlying condition.
Among the 369 who have died, the report says 100% had a known underlying condition.
Hospitalizations started falling from record highs in mid-January only to start rebounding around early April.
There were 9.3 hospitalizations per 100,000 people from May 8-14 in Thurston County, according to state data. This is up from a recent low of 0.3 from April 1-7.
The current record high rate was 38.1 which was recorded from Jan. 9-15.
As of Sunday, 93.4% 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 5.6% of ICU beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Hospitals in the region were 90.4% full over a seven-day period, per the data, while COVID-19 patients accounted for 6.8%.
Vaccinations and tests
Just 66% of all Thurston residents had completed their primary series of vaccinations as of Saturday, and 72.6% had at least initiated their primary series, per state data.
Meanwhile, the data show 76.8% of Thurston County residents 5 and older have initiated vaccinations and 69.8% had completed their primary series.
As of May 9, 81.8% of the state population 5 and older had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 74.4% had completed their primary series.
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 59% of those 12 and older have received a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Saturday. Across the state, about 58.7% of that population have gotten a booster as of Saturday — the same percentage reported last week.
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.
About 11.9% of confirmed molecular and antigen tests returned a positive result in Thurston County from April 27 to May 3, according to DOH data. Over the same period, the state had an overall test positivity rate of 10.6%.
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 has confirmed 192,283 total COVID-19 cases with 1,341 deaths as of May 10. Pierce County has a population of about 927,000.
Lewis County has had a total of 17,938 confirmed cases with 255 deaths as of Sunday. Lewis County has a population of almost 83,000.
Grays Harbor County has seen a total of 17,240 cases with 198 deaths as of Sunday, according to state data. Grays Harbor County has a population of about 75,000.
Mason County has reported 11,877 confirmed cases with 141 deaths as of Monday. Mason County has a population of about 69,000.
In the nation, state and world
The state of Washington has confirmed over 1.55 million COVID-19 cases and 12,812 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
In the U.S., about 83.3 million COVID-19 cases had been reported as of Monday with over 1 million deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The U.S. population is about 330 million.
Globally, more than 525.8 million people had contracted the virus and over 6.2 million people had died of COVID-19 as of Monday, the data show.
This story was originally published May 25, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
