Thurston County announces 1 new COVID-19 case Tuesday
Thurston County Public Health and Social Services on Tuesday announced one more resident, a man in his 20s, had been diagnosed with COVID-19, bringing the county’s total to 198.
Four county residents have died of complications related to the disease, with three of the deaths connected to outbreaks at two local care facilities.
While the county announced just one new case Tuesday, Thurston has seen a recent uptick in cases, both related and unrelated to the outbreaks. Acting Health Officer Dr. Diana Yu and other public health officials continue to emphasize the importance of measures such as maintaining 6 feet of distance from others, wearing a cloth face covering in public spaces, and washing hands frequently.
The county expects to apply to move to Phase 3 of reopening the economy on Wednesday, and Director Schelli Slaughter told The Olympian the county is hoping to hear back from the state by Friday but the timeline isn’t certain.
“The case numbers have risen lately because we had an outbreak in a long-term care facility and another cluster of cases among a group of friends/co-workers,” Dr. Yu wrote in a letter to the community released Tuesday. “Hospitals have the capacity to take care of sicker patients. We have testing available in our community. For the most part, people who are sick are staying home and limiting contacts. If only they kept their 6 feet of distance and wore face coverings before they got sick, we would not have exposure and more cases!”
Updated ZIP code map
A new weekly report that includes data through Sunday, June 14, shows two Thurston County ZIP codes, 98513 and 98512, are now home to 30 or more residents who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 — in previous reports, the highest category was “20+ Cases.”
ZIP codes 98501 and 98503, which lie between the two areas with the highest number of cases, both have had 20-29 confirmed cases of the disease so far.
According to the report, all of the following ZIP codes saw an increase since last week: 98501, 98503, 98512, 98513, 98576, 98579, 98589, and 98597.
In the region
Pierce County reported 26 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, bringing its total to 2,160 cases — 83 people have died in Pierce County from the disease.
Lewis County reported one new case, bringing its total to 41. The newest case is in a person in their 20s who is hospitalized, according to a news release. The county has reported three deaths in people who have tested positive.
Mason County also reported one new case Tuesday, bringing its total to 41 cases and one death. The latest case was diagnosed in a man in his 70s who is a direct contact of a previous positive case and isolating at home. The county considers four of its cases to be active.
Grays Harbor County reported one new case, bringing its total to 21 with four new cases since June 1.
Around the state, nation, and world
In Washington state, 26,158 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and over 1,200 people have died from it, according to data from the Washington State Department of Health.
The U.S. has over 2.1 million people infected with disease, and 116,833 people have died from it, data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows.
Globally, over 8.1 million people have now been infected, and over 440,000 people have died from the disease.
This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 6:13 PM.