CDC lowers Thurston County’s COVID-19 risk level. Here’s what that means for you
COVID-19 activity fell in Thurston County in late July, lowering transmission risks.
Public Health and Social Services reported 499 additional cases and two deaths for the week of Aug. 1-7. This followed 487 cases and 10 deaths reported the week of July 25-31.
Twelve people died of COVID over the past two weeks, including six women: two in their 70s, two in their 80s and two in their 90s. Six men also died: two in their 50s, one in his 70s, two in their 80s and one in his 90s.
Though the latest weekly case count was slightly higher than the previous one, both weeks were lower than the 721 cases reported the week of July 18-24. For the week of Aug 8-14, PHSS had already reported 420 additional cases as of Wednesday.
In all, PHSS has confirmed 55,679 cases and 422 deaths since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. However, case counts are under-counted due to the widespread use of at-home tests that are often not officially recorded.
The Washington state Department of Health continued to describe virus activity in Thurston County as “high,” the most severe rating. However, the county’s case rate per 100,000 people fell from 259.5 between July 5-11 to 158.8 between July 26 to Aug. 1, according to the state.
Though an improvement, the county’s case rate remains above 100, the state’s threshold for “high” activity.
As of Aug. 4, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention ranked Thurston County’s Community Level as “low.” Two weeks prior, the county had a “high” rating.
Thurston County shared that low rating with most of its immediate neighbors, except Mason County which was labeled as “medium.”
With a “low” rating, the CDC recommends people wear masks if they experience symptoms, test positive or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. People should also wear masks on public transportation, according to CDC guidance.
The CDC determines community levels by weighing new hospital admission and inpatient bed data after considering cases per 100,000 in the past seven days.
Hospitalizations and outbreaks
There were about 10.3 hospital admissions per 100,000 Thurston County residents over a seven-day period ending on Monday, according to data from the CDC.
Around 7.6% of staffed in-patient beds were being used by patients with confirmed COVID-19 over the same period, the data shows.
Over a seven-day period ending Tuesday, state DOH data indicates 83.1% of Intensive Care Unit beds were occupied in the West region, which includes Thurston County and some of its neighbors. The data show 14.4% of ICU beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Hospitals in the region were 90.6% full over the seven-day period, while COVID-19 patients accounted for 11.1%.
PHSS recorded 17 hospitalizations in Thurston County from Aug. 4-10. In all, county data show 2,696 COVID patients have been hospitalized at some point in their illness since the start of the pandemic.
About 75% of county residents who were hospitalized had a known underlying condition, according to the Tuesday weekly report. But it’s possible some had an unknown underlying condition.
Among the people died before Sunday, the report says 100% had a known underlying condition.
PHSS has been investigating 39 ongoing outbreaks at congregate care settings as of Wednesday. In all, there have been 264 such outbreaks — nine more than two weeks ago.
The Tuesday weekly report indicates there were 41 active outbreaks as of Sunday. They included 12 adult family homes, 12 assisted living facilities, four congregate housing settings, one jail, one enhanced services facility, and 11 nursing facilities.
Vaccines and testing
About 66.8% of all Thurston County residents had completed their primary series of vaccinations as of Monday. Meanwhile, about 73.8% had a least initiated their primary series, state data shows.
The state also reports 58.1% of county residents 5 and older have received a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday. Across the state, about 57.8% of that population has gotten a booster by the same day.
Anyone who tests at home can report their results to Washington’s COVID-19 hotline at 800-525-0127. Thurston County residents also can call PHSS at 360-867-2610.
Over-the-counter COVID-19 antigen tests are available at pharmacies and on-order for Washington residents from Say Yes! COVID Test and the federal government.
In the region
Pierce County has confirmed 214,828 total COVID-19 cases with 1,478 deaths as of Tuesday. Pierce County has a population of about 927,000. The CDC indicates Pierce County has a low COVID-19 community level.
Lewis County has had a total of 19,519 confirmed cases with 273 deaths as of Tuesday, state data shows. Lewis County has a population of almost 83,000. The CDC indicates Lewis County has a low COVID-19 community level.
Grays Harbor County has seen a total of 18,833 cases with 211 deaths as of Tuesday, according to state data. Grays Harbor County has a population of about 75,000. The CDC indicates Grays Harbor County has a low COVID-19 community level.
Mason County has reported 13,244 confirmed cases with 153 deaths as of Tuesday. Mason County has a population of about 69,000. The CDC indicates Mason County has a medium COVID-19 community level.
In the nation, state and world
The state of Washington has confirmed over 1.7 million COVID-19 cases and at least 13,637 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic to Tuesday.
In the U.S., about 92.5 million COVID-19 cases had been reported as of Wednesday with over 1.03 million deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The U.S. population is about 330 million.
Globally, more than 587.6 million people had contracted the virus and over 6.4 million people had died of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, the data show.
This story was originally published August 11, 2022 at 12:07 PM.
