COVID-19 disease activity falls again in Thurston County as CDC risk level stays low
Thurston County’s COVID-19 disease activity fell in late August, continuing a downward trend.
Public Health and Social Services reported 237 additional cases and no deaths for the week of Aug. 22-28. Weekly case counts have been declining since mid-July.
In all, PHSS has confirmed 56,517 cases and 422 deaths from the start of the pandemic in March 2020 to Sunday. However, case numbers are undercounted due to the prevalence of at-home tests that are often not officially recorded.
Thurston County’s disease activity rating fell from “high” to “substantial” between Aug. 16-22, according to the Washington State Department of Health.
This occurred because the county’s case rate per 100,000 people fell below 100, the state’s threshold for high activity. Between Aug. 16-22, the county’s case rate was 92.8.
The state’s “substantial” rating extended to most of the county’s immediate neighbors. The one exception was Mason County which had a case rate of 132.5 over the same time period.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranked Thurston County’s COVID-19 Community Level as “low” based on data from Aug. 17-23. Data from two weeks prior led to a “medium” rating.
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. Thurston County shared the “low” rating with all of its immediate neighbors.
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.
Hospitalizations
CDC hospitalization data showed fewer people have been hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 over the past week.
Around 4.6% of staffed in-patient beds were being used by patients with confirmed COVID-19 over that period, the data show. About 4.7% of these beds were reported occupied the previous week.
There were about 7.3 hospital admissions per 100,000 Thurston County residents over a seven-day period ending on Monday, per CDC data. The previous week, the CDC reported a 7.7 rate.
Over a seven-day period ending on Tuesday, state DOH data indicates about 81.7% of Intensive Care Unit beds were occupied in the West region, which includes Thurston County and some of its neighbors. The data show 10.1% of ICU beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Hospitals in the region were 92% full over the seven-day period, while COVID-19 patients accounted for 7.1%.
PHSS recorded just one hospitalization in Thurston County from Aug. 22-28. In all, county data show 2,746 people have been hospitalized at some point in their illness from the start of the pandemic to Sunday.
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.
Outbreaks
PHSS had been investigating 29 ongoing outbreaks at congregate care settings as of Sunday. In all, there have been 268 such outbreaks — three more than the amount reported the previous week.
The ongoing outbreaks included seven adult family homes, 13 assisted living facilities, two congregate housing settings, an enhanced services facility, three nursing facilities and three supported living facilities.
Vaccines and testing
About 67.1% of all Thurston County residents had completed their primary series of vaccinations as of Monday. The state also reported 58.3% of county residents 5 and older have received a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Thurston County PHSS continues to offer free vaccination events, including for booster shots, every week. Upcoming events are listed on their coronavirus vaccine information website.
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.
In the region
Pierce County has confirmed 217,460 total COVID-19 cases with 1,499 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 19,729 confirmed cases with 277 deaths as of Tuesday, state data show. 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 19,033 cases with 214 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 13,583 confirmed cases with 155 deaths as of Tuesday. Mason County has a population of about 69,000. The CDC indicates Mason County has a low 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 13,931 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic to Tuesday.
In the U.S., about 94.6 million COVID-19 cases had been reported as of Thursday with about 1.05 million deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The U.S. population is about 330 million.
Globally, more than 603 million people had contracted the virus and 6.5 million people had died of COVID-19 as of Thursday, the data show.
