Pierce County sees 17 new COVID-19 cases, four deaths; new estimates on number recovered
Pierce County on Wednesday reported 17 new COVID-19 cases and four new deaths.
The county’s new totals are 1,236 cases, 40 deaths, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
The new deaths include a Tacoma woman in her 70s; two Edgewood/Fife/Milton area men, one in his 80s and one in his 70s; and an East Pierce County man in his 70s. All had underlying health conditions.
The health department has updated its searchable map to include cases by census tract. The map on Wednesday showed tracts around Frederickson, Parkland and one that includes the 72nd and Portland Avenue area were among those to have the highest counts of 20 or more cases.
The website’s hospitalization rate chart was updated Wednesday to show that the number of hospital stays had decreased over the previous week; 28 compared with 40 the previous week.
Both of those weeks show a marked decline from the peak of March 29-April 1, when 71 hospital stays occurred, according to Wednesday’s county data.
In a blog post Wednesday, the health department estimated 181 people in the county have likely recovered.
“We wait 28 days after a person’s diagnosis was reported to the Health Department before we consider them likely recovered,” according to the post. “The bulk of our cases are still on the recovery spectrum.”
Previous day’s totals are subject to change as case investigations unfold or cases are reassigned to other areas. On some days, the individual counts do not add up to the day’s official total. The health department only reports cases in geographic areas with populations greater than 20,000 people.
The county has not been reporting test result numbers or rates, previously citing delays with the state data reporting system.
Wednesday’s geographical totals are listed below with Tuesday’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 33 (32)
▪ Central Pierce County: 96 (no change)
▪ East Pierce County: 36 (no change)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 67 (66)
▪ Frederickson: 43 (no change)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 50 (no change)
▪ Graham: 39 (no change)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 7 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 34 (33)
▪ Lakewood: 110 (108)
▪ Parkland: 59 (no change)
▪ Puyallup: 60 (58)
▪ South Hill: 69 (68)
▪ South Pierce County: 23 (no change)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 15 (no change)
▪ Spanaway: 39 (37)
▪ Tacoma: 412 (406)
▪ University Place: 41 (40)
▪ Unknown: 3 (no change)
Daily reports include cases received by 11:59 p.m. the previous day.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHow we are reporting coronavirus numbers
The News Tribune reports confirmed coronavirus cases as listed by the Washington Department of Health and the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department in their daily updates.
The state total includes all cases submitted by county health departments by 11:59 p.m. the previous day and is updated once a day by 6 p.m. on its website. Its numbers only include the cases the health departments have reported directly to the state. In some cases, county health departments have reported cases publicly but not to the state health department by the daily deadline, leading to different totals on occasion.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department updates its total by 2 p.m. each day on its website, and consists of all new confirmed cases reported by 11:59 p.m. the previous day.
This story was originally published April 22, 2020 at 3:12 PM.
