Thurston County adds 11 deaths, 654 cases as COVID-19 disease activity remains high
Thurston County confirmed 11 deaths due to COVID-19 and 654 additional cases the week of June 13-19.
Six women died: three in their 70s, two in their 80s and one in her 100s, according to Public Health and Social Services. Five men also died: one in his 50s, one in his 60s and three in their 80s.
An additional 98 cases were added on Monday. In all, PHSS has recorded 51,296 cases and at least 391 deaths from March 2020 to Monday.
Of that total, PHSS considers 49,975 cases as recovered or recovering, meaning 1,321 confirmed cases remained active as of Monday.
Last week saw fewer confirmed cases than the week prior but many more deaths. From May 30 to June 5, PHSS reported 702 cases and one death.
As of Thursday, the state Department of Health considers disease activity to be “high” in Thurston County — the most severe rating.
The county’s case rate per 100,000 people reached 430.6 from May 26 to June 8 as of Thursday, according to the state. This is down from a recent peak of 538.8 from May 13-26.
The record high case rate was 3,108.9 from Jan. 2-15, per the latest data. This rate was far higher than the previous peak of 526.8 from Aug. 18-31.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention described the county’s COVID-19 Community Level as “medium” as of Thursday.
The CDC determines community levels by weighing new hospital admission and inpatient bed metrics after considering cases per 100,000 in the past seven days.
A western states governmental health advisory group authorized COVID-19 vaccines for children under 5 years on Sunday, The Olympian previously reported.
The decision followed similar authorizations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
State Secretary of Health Umair Shah previously said he expects supply to meet initial demand for the new vaccines. Supply will increase in the coming days and weeks, he added.
Outbreaks and Hospitalizations
PHSS has been investigating 27 ongoing outbreaks at congregate care settings as of Monday. So far, there have been 223 such outbreaks — four more than the previous week.
At school settings, PHSS reported eight closures involving 26 cases the week of May 30 to June 5 and one closure involving seven cases from June 6-12.
From May 30 to June 5, Olympia School District saw two closures with seven cases while North Thurston Public Schools had one closure with three cases.
That same week, Tumwater School District had two closures with seven cases and Griffin School District had two closures with six cases. Meanwhile one closure with three cases affected a private school setting.
From June 6-12, the data show one closure involving seven cases affected Yelm Community Schools.
PHSS confirmed 11 hospitalizations occurred over the past week. Since the start of the pandemic, the data show 2,410 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 June 21 weekly report. However, it’s possible some had an unknown underlying condition.
Among the people died before June 20, the report says 100% had a known underlying condition.
There were about 8.2 hospitalizations per 100,000 people from June 2-8 in Thurston County, according to the latest state data. This rate has been fluctuating since reaching a recent peak of 11 from May 9-15.
The current record high rate was 37.8 which was recorded from Jan. 9-15. During the previous Delta variant wave, the county’s record was 19.9 between Aug. 20-26.
About 87.7% 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, as of Thursday. The data show 1.4% of ICU beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients in the region as well.
Hospitals in the region were 89.7% full over a seven-day period, per the data, while COVID-19 patients accounted for 6.6%.
Vaccinations and tests
Just 66.2% of all Thurston residents completed their primary series of vaccinations as of Wednesday, and 72.9% had at least initiated their primary series, per state data.
Meanwhile, the data show 77.1% of Thurston County residents 5 and older have initiated vaccinations and 70.1% had completed their primary series.
As of May 9, 81.8% of the state population five and older had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 74.4% had been 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 59.1% of those 12 and older have received a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Saturday.
Across the state, about 58.8% of that population have gotten a booster as of June 11.
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 13.7% of confirmed molecular and antigen tests returned a positive result in Thurston County from June 1-7, according to DOH data. Over the same period, the state had an overall test positivity rate of 13.6%.
The DOH says it does not separate antigen test data from molecular test data because negative antigen tests are often not reported.
Testing results and by extension case counts are undercounted due to the availability of at-home testing. For its part, PHSS does not count such tests because they are considered suspect, according to county spokesperson Meredith Mathis.
Anyone who tests at home can report their results to Washington’s COVID-19 hotline at 800–525–0127. Thurston County residents may also call PHSS at 360-867-2610.
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 201,175 total COVID-19 cases with 1,356 deaths as of June 14. Pierce County has a population of about 927,000.
Grays Harbor County has seen a total of 17,745 cases with 202 deaths as of Thursday, according to state data. Grays Harbor County has a population of about 75,000.
Lewis County has had a total of 18,408 confirmed cases with 257 deaths as of Thursday per state data. Lewis County has a population of almost 83,000.
Mason County has reported 12,275 confirmed cases with 143 deaths as of Thursday. Mason County has a population of about 69,000.
In the nation, state and world
The state of Washington has confirmed over 1.6 million COVID-19 cases and 13,003 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic to Thursday.
In the U.S., about 86.3 million COVID-19 cases had been reported as of Tuesday with over 1 million deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The U.S. population is about 330 million.
Globally, more than 540 million people had contracted the virus and over 6.3 million people had died of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, the data show.
This story was originally published June 22, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
