Pierce County sees 17 new cases of COVID-19, one day after 26 new cases reported

Pierce County reported 17 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday and no additional deaths.

The county’s totals are now 2,175 cases and 83 deaths since the first case was reported March 6.

Pierce County had 188 new cases in the past 14 days, an average of 13.4 new cases each day. There have been 20.8 new cases per 100,000 residents during the past 14 days, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department website says.

Daily case totals can change as the county receives new information about cases, finds duplicate data or is assigned cases originally attributed to other counties.

As of Wednesday, the county reported an estimated 351 still-active cases.

Wednesday’s total was the second day in a row of higher case numbers than what has been reported in the past few weeks. On Tuesday, there were 26 new cases.

Stacy Page, COVID-19 communications lead with the health department, told The News Tribune in response to questions via email Wednesday that it was still unknown as to the specific reason for the sudden rise.

“With 17 new cases today, we are still watching to see if we can identify any reason for slightly higher numbers,” Page said. “It will be a couple of days of study before we can identify with certainty the cause.”

She added, “We know we are not seeing the increase in long-term care facilities or congregate care facilities.”

Possible causes could be the result of more tests being performed, a data lag in reporting cases, “or it could be a true increase in cases related to Phase 2 reopening,” Page wrote.

There have been 35,151 tests for the coronavirus conducted in the county with positive results at 6.1 percent, according to the state Department of Health.

That total does not include negative tests from long-term care facilities or the 100,000 tests not yet assigned to a county.

Testing is available at various sites in the county. For more information, go to tpchd.org/healthy-people/diseases/covid-19/testing-information.

Care facilities, cases by population

The health department each Wednesday offers additional case updates.

Hospitalizations were down from the previous week, and the percentage breakdown of deaths since the start of COVID-19 deaths in the county were as follows:

▪ Hospitalized: 61 percent.

▪ Lived or worked in a care facility: 85.9 percent.

▪ Had underlying health conditions: 97.6 percent.

As many as 343 confirmed COVID-19 cases (15.8 percent of total cases) in Pierce County are health care workers.

This week, the county reported 487 cases at congregate care facilities, up from 475 cases last week. The “Other Facilities” listing includes sites with fewer than 10 cases or fewer than 30 beds. It also includes homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters and rehabilitation centers.

Cases that have been reported at care facilities among residents and staff are listed with previous week’s totals in parentheses. Newly listed locations will only show one case total:

▪ Alpha Cottages (Gibraltar Assisted Living), Central Pierce County: 36 (no new cases in 28 days)

▪ Avamere Puget Sound Transitional Care, Tacoma: 31 (no new cases in 28 days)

▪ Heartwood Extended Health Care, Tacoma: 70 (no new cases in 28 days)

▪ Lindon Grove, Puyallup: 72 (no change)

▪ Orchard Park Health and Rehab Center, Tacoma, 22 (no new cases in 28 days)

▪ People’s Retirement Center, Tacoma: 19 (no new cases in 28 days)

▪ Pioneer Place Memory Haven, Central Pierce County: 15 (no new cases in 28 days)

▪ Tacoma Lutheran Retirement Community, Tacoma: 10 (no change)

▪ The Cottages at Edgewood, Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 14 (no new cases in 28 days)

▪ Other facilities, multiple areas: 198 (186)

Total number of cases and deaths in Pierce County since March 6 by race/ethnicity and previous week’s totals since March 6 in parentheses:

▪ Asian: 113 cases, 3 deaths (108 cases, 3 deaths)

▪ Black or African American: 193 cases, 5 deaths (179 cases, 5 deaths)

▪ Hispanic: 360 cases, 7 deaths (359 cases, 7 deaths)

▪ Multiple race: 21 cases, 0 deaths (20 cases, 0 deaths)

▪ Native American/Alaska Native: 34 cases, 1 death (32 cases, 1 death)

▪ Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 101 cases, 3 deaths (100 cases, 3 deaths)

▪ White: 868 cases, 55 deaths (834 cases, 54 deaths)

Patients aren’t required to report race/ethnicity, so the data is not a complete reflection of actual numbers. The rates are based on the 77 percent of cases and 89 percent of deaths for which the health department has race/ethnicity data. The full table is updated each Wednesday at tpchd.org/healthy-people/diseases/covid-19-pierce-county-cases/.

Wednesday’s geographical case totals are listed below with Tuesday’s totals in parentheses:

▪ Bonney Lake: 48 (no change)

▪ Central Pierce County: 150 (no change)

▪ East Pierce County: 59 (no change)

▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 100 (99)

▪ Frederickson: 70 (no change)

▪ Gig Harbor area: 56 (no change)

▪ Graham: 71 (70)

▪ JBLM: No longer reported

▪ Key Peninsula: 9 (8)

▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 57 (56)

▪ Lakewood: 225 (223)

▪ Parkland: 129 (no change)

▪ Puyallup: 157 (155)

▪ South Hill: 110 (109)

▪ South Pierce County: 42 (no change)

▪ Southwest Pierce County: 23 (no change)

▪ Spanaway: 71 (70)

▪ Tacoma: 704 (699)

▪ University Place: 82 (81)

▪ Unknown: 12 (no change)

Daily reports include cases received by 11:59 p.m. the previous day.

This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 2:48 PM.

Debbie Cockrell

The News Tribune

253-597-8364

Debbie Cockrell has been with The News Tribune since 2009. She reports on business and development, local and regional issues.