See which industries have had the most COVID-19 outbreaks in Pierce County since June
Pierce County this week took the first step in lifting some of the mystery as to which businesses are experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks.
On Wednesday, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department released a list of reported outbreaks by type of business from June to Aug. 8.
Leading the pack was transportation/shipping/delivery, with 11 outbreaks and 59 related cases, followed by retail/grocery with 15 outbreaks and 48 related cases, and food service/restaurant with 7 outbreaks and 17 outbreak related cases.
The remaining business types, number of outbreaks and number of outbreak-related cases:
▪ Bar/nightclub: 4 outbreaks, 11 cases
▪ Warehouse: 3, 10
▪ Office: 4, 8
▪ Construction: 2, 8
▪ Other services: 3, 7
▪ Manufacturing (non-food): 3, 6
▪ Manufacturing: (food and food-related): 2, 5
A category classified as “other” showed nine outbreaks with 32 related cases and included the following:
▪ Agriculture/produce packing
▪ Professional services/office-based (business, IT, finance, legal)
▪ Leisure/hospitality/recreation
▪ Agency, facility, etc.
▪ K-12 school
▪ Utilities
▪ Hotel
▪ Facility/domestic cleaning service
▪ Outpatient Medical/Dental
In total, the department said it had linked more than 200 confirmed cases to the outbreaks.
Outbreaks in this case are defined as two or more cases in one location, excluding residences and long-term care sites, with onset dates within 14 days and with no known outside link.
The department’s definition added, “An outbreak doesn’t necessarily increase the risk of COVID-19 for customers or the business. Different jobs within a business carry different risk levels between employees.”
The health department does not make public outbreaks at specific businesses unless the site has at least 10 cases and 30 or more employees, in order to not identify workers or stigmatize businesses.
“We don’t want people stigmatizing other people; we don’t want people avoiding businesses because they heard that the business had an outbreak,” Chen told The News Tribune in a recent interview.
The department said it would update the list each Wednesday on its COVID-19 data tracker online.
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 10:28 AM.
