9 new cases of COVID-19 in Thurston County Tuesday bring total to 312
Thurston County Public Health and Social Services on Tuesday announced nine new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in residents, bringing the county’s total to 312 diagnosed since the first case was announced here March 11.
Of those 312, five have died due to complications related to COVID-19, 231 are considered “recovering” or “recovered,” and 37 have required hospitalization at some point in their illness.
The latest residents to be diagnosed are: A woman in her 20s, two women and two men in their 30s, a man and a woman in their 40s, and a man and woman in their 50s.
This continues a trend of diagnoses skewing toward young people. In a Board of County Commissioners meeting Tuesday morning, Thurston Public Health Director Schelli Slaughter shared that the median age of county residents diagnosed had dropped to 34 years old as of last week.
Thurston County Health Officer Dr. Dimyana Abdelmalek said Tuesday that the county has seen positive cases in children as young as 1 year old and that residents diagnosed in each age group have experienced a range of symptoms, from mild to severe.
Also Tuesday, Slaughter shared that the county’s weekly rate of COVID-19 tests that come back positive has risen from 2 percent positive to 3.1 percent positive.
In the week ending Sunday, the county saw far and away its biggest one-week increase in confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic, adding 54 cases to its total. Combined with cases announced the previous week, the county’s 14-day total was 79, which puts it above the state-set target of 25 newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over two weeks.
For Thurston, that threshold is 74.
The tally is one of many metrics used to determine a county’s readiness to move between phases of Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Safe Start” plan to reopen the economy. There was no mention at Tuesday’s meeting of whether officials are concerned that Thurston County could revert to Phase 2 from Phase 3, which the county entered June 24.
“We continue to monitor the increase in cases and are concerned about the rise in cases,” Slaughter wrote in a text message to The Olympian Tuesday. “We will engage in conversations with DOH if we continue to see this trend and are not meeting other metrics ...”
A dashboard that shows county-by-county metrics is available online: https://coronavirus.wa.gov/what-you-need-know/covid-19-risk-assessment-dashboard.
“We need the public’s help to stay in Phase 3,” Slaughter wrote, including recommendations that people mask, avoid large groups and social gatherings, maintain 6 feet physical distance from others and get tested quickly if they experience symptoms.
In good news: Slaughter said hospital capacity has improved since last week, when she shared with commissioners that facilities were quite full — state data last Tuesday showed 86.8 percent of licensed beds in Thurston County were occupied by patients, in comparison to the state’s goal of below 80 percent. According to state data updated Monday, the county’s percentage of occupied beds had dropped to 76.4 percent.
Slaughter also said the outbreak of COVID-19 at Olympics West Retirement Inn in Tumwater is now considered finished.
Over its course, that outbreak sickened 36 people, as of the county’s latest data release, of which four died due to COVID-19. The deaths include a woman in her 80s whose death was announced Sunday and who Slaughter said was a contact of someone who tested positive at the facility.
In the region
- Pierce County reported 32 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday and one new death, in a woman in her 90s from University Place with underlying health conditions. The county has had a total of 2,893 cases and 91 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak.
- Lewis County announced no new cases. Its case total remains at 83 with three deaths.
- Mason County has confirmed 56 cases of COVID-19 in residents and one death, according to a news release sent Tuesday morning.
- Grays Harbor County announced Monday that it has identified seven new cases of COVID-19 among residents since July 5. Six cases were identified July 5 and one on July 6, bringing its total case count to 34.
Around the state, nation and world
- Washington State’s Department of Health is reporting a total of 37,420 cases of COVID-19 and 1,384 deaths related to the disease.
- In the U.S., nearly 3 million people have tested positive and more than 131,000 have died because of the disease, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
- Globally, more than 11.7 million diagnoses have been made and more than 542,300 deaths have been reported.
This story was originally published July 7, 2020 at 4:54 PM.
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