Thurston adds 24 COVID-19 cases; North Thurston to add more grades for in-person school
Thurston County health officials announced 24 more cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, yet another indication that COVID-19 is waning in the county.
The county has so far reported 72 cases through Wednesday, county health data show. Last week the county added only 281 cases, the first time the weekly case total fell below 300 since early November.
Confirmed cases here peaked in December, then began to fall in January. Moderate transmission rates, combined with new guidance from state and county leaders, reopened public schools to preschool, kindergarten and some elementary students for hybrid learning as of Monday. Late Tuesday, North Thurston Public Schools announced the district will expand its hybrid learning to first and second graders on Feb. 17.
Tumwater School District is set to add grades 3-6 on Feb. 18. It was not clear if Olympia School District has made a similar decision.
Thursday’s 24 cases increased the overall total here to 6,538. Of those, 5,018 people have recovered or are recovering, 334 have been hospitalized at some point during their illness, including three in the past seven days, and 63 have died, according to Thurston County Public Health and Social Services.
County Health Officer Dr. Dimyana Abdelmalek said because the United Kingdom variant of COVID-19 has been found in Washington state, she urged residents to continue to take appropriate safety measures.
“It is essential you continue to wear masks in public, maintain 6 feet or more of distance with non-household members, stay home when sick and instructed by public health, follow respiratory etiquette, and use hand hygiene,” she writes. “Viruses can only mutate when there is widespread transmission, so the best way to prevent mutations is to continue to be vigilant about preventing infections by continuing to follow these precautions.”
In the region
▪ Pierce County on Thursday confirmed 170 new COVID-19 cases and four new deaths. The county now has reported a total of 33,513 cases and 408 deaths.
▪ Grays Harbor County has reported 3,052 confirmed and probable cases as of Wednesday with 37 deaths.
▪ Lewis County Public Health & Social Services announced 25 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the county’s total to 2,998. No additional deaths were reported, so the death total remains at 37.
▪ Mason County reported three new cases but no new deaths on Thursday for a total of 1,614 cases with 20 deaths.
▪ Pacific County reported four more cases for a total of 671 confirmed and probable cases with eight deaths as of Wednesday.
Around the state, nation and world
The state Department of Health had reported 317,878 confirmed and probable cases and 4,416 deaths as of Friday.
In the U.S., 26.8 million cases had been reported as of Friday with more than 458,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Globally, 105.2 million cases had been reported and 2.3 million people had died as of Friday, the data show.
This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 3:56 PM.
