North Thurston announces grades 3-5 to return to classrooms in early March
More elementary school students are set to return to school for hybrid learning in the North Thurston Public Schools, officials announced Wednesday.
Students in third and fourth grades are set to begin hybrid learning — two days of classroom-based instruction, three days online — on March 3, followed by fifth graders on March 10. The district welcomed back first- and second-graders this week.
“Your child’s school will contact families directly with additional information, teacher assignments, as well as school-specific start- and end-time schedules,” North Thurston officials said in an email to parents.
Tumwater School District welcomed back grades 3-6 this week. Olympia School District will welcome back grades 1-2 on Feb. 22, a spokeswoman said.
COVID-19 cases continue to drop
Thurston County health officials announced 23 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, giving the county 90 cases so far this week and 6,951 overall. The county reported 191 cases last week, a three-month low.
Of the overall total, 6,402 people have recovered or are recovering, 337 have been hospitalized at some point during their illness and 63 have died. There have been no new deaths reported since Jan. 31.
The county is reporting eight COVID-19 outbreaks at three assisted living facilities, two nursing homes, one adult family home, one congregate housing, and one correctional facility.
In the region
▪ Pierce County reported 163 new cases and five deaths Wednesday, bringing its totals to 35,152 cases and 437 deaths.
▪ Grays Harbor County reported eight new cases and four new deaths on Tuesday, bringing its total to 3,233 confirmed and probable cases and 45 deaths.
▪ Lewis County Public Health & Social Services reported 16 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, bringing the county’s total to 3,151. The death toll remains at 42.
▪ Mason County reported three new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, bringing its total to 1,657 cases with 23 deaths.
▪ Pacific County has reported a total of 731 confirmed and probable cases with nine deaths as of Wednesday.
In the state, nation and world
The state Department of Health has reported 330,807 confirmed and probable cases and 4,759 deaths as of Wednesday.
In the U.S., more than 27.9 million cases have been reported as of Thursday with more than 492,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. California has now surpassed New York as the state with the most people killed by COVID-19, at more than 48,000 deaths since the pandemic began.
Globally, more than 110.2 million cases had been reported and over 2.44 million people had died as of Thursday, the data show.
This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 4:58 PM.
