2 new cases of COVID-19 in Thurston Tuesday; Health Officer addresses schools question
Editor’s note: Ten long-term care facility residents and 22 staff were diagnosed with COVID-19 as part of four outbreaks that were ongoing as of Sept. 11., not as part of the nine outbreaks investigated by the county since the pandemic began. This story has been corrected.
Thurston County Public Health and Social Services on Tuesday announced two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in residents — the county’s third day in a row with two or fewer new cases announced.
The latest two cases are in a boy between ages 10 and 19 and a man in his 30s, county data show.
At a county commissioners work session Tuesday morning, Public Health Director Schelli Slaughter said officials have seen a downward trend in cases locally and across the state. However, local officials report they are watching numbers closely in the wake of the Labor Day holiday, as they receive questions about schools.
Thurston County Health Officer Dr. Dimyana Abdelmalek wrote in a letter to the community released Tuesday that she’s been getting a lot of questions about schools reopening for in-person instruction.
In July, when she urged district superintendents to keep school buildings closed to in-person learning for the fall term, a rise in cases that led to that decision came from Fourth of July gatherings, she told commissioners Tuesday. In her letter, she wrote that she’s waiting a full 14-day incubation period to “see what our trajectory is going into fall.”
“I really want to make sure that when we do ...resume in-person instruction, that the timing is right and that our community is ready and that... everyone has what they need to stay safe and healthy,” she told commissioners Tuesday.
A total of 1,097 Thurston County residents have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
Of that total, 907 people are considered recovered or recovering, 78 people have been hospitalized at some point during their illness and 15 have died, county health data show. In response to a question from Commissioner Gary Edwards Tuesday, Slaughter clarified that not all of the people who have died here reported an underlying condition and not all were over age 65.
Public health officials consider someone “recovered” or “recovering” if they’re not hospitalized and have been released from public health-ordered isolation, according to the county — people who recover could still have long-term health problems from the disease.
Outbreak at jail considered closed
The number of local COVID-19 outbreaks went from five to three Tuesday, according to county COVID-19 spokesperson Magen Johnson.
A COVID-19 outbreak at the Thurston County jail is now considered closed, as is an outbreak at an adult family home.
An outbreak is considered closed once 28 days — two full incubation periods — have passed without a new case connected to the outbreak, Johnson explained. The jail outbreak included 13 cases total, with nine in inmates and four in jail staff members, according to recent county reports.
That leaves one outbreak that’s ongoing in an assisted living facility, and two local in adult family homes. The county has reported nine total outbreaks in facilities since the pandemic began.
According to a report issued Tuesday that still included the two closed outbreaks: In addition to the 13 people diagnosed in the jail outbreak, 10 long-term care facility residents and 22 staff had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as part of the other four outbreaks, as of Sept. 11. Two deaths were attributed to the outbreaks.
In the region
- Pierce County reported 26 new COVID-19 cases and two new deaths Tuesday, both with underlying health conditions: a man in his 90s from Gig Harbor and a man in his 100s from South Pierce County. Its totals are now 7,226 cases and 162 deaths.
- Lewis County announced four new cases: two residents under age 20, one in their 20s, and one in their 40s. The county’s total is now 445 with four deaths.
- Mason County announced one new case, for a total of 379 cases and three deaths. Mason County Public Health considers 12 cases to be active.
- Grays Harbor County had 374 total cases with six deaths as of late Monday night.
Around the state, nation and world
- Washington state’s Department of Health had reported 80,465 COVID-19 cases and 2,015 deaths as of Tuesday.
- In the U.S., about 6.6 million people had tested positive for the disease as of Tuesday and more than 195,000 people had died from it, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
- Globally, more than 29.4 million COVID-19 cases had been reported along with more than 931,000 deaths, as of Tuesday.
This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 6:10 PM.
.jpg)