77 new COVID-19 cases for Pierce County on Friday; 856 cases reported in past 14 days
Pierce County reported 77 new COVID-19 cases Friday and no new deaths on the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s website.
On Thursday, the county reported nearly 90 new cases, the highest single-day reporting of new cases since the start of the pandemic.
The county has reported 3,556 cases and 101 deaths since the first case in the pandemic was recorded March 6.
The county estimates 1,320 still-active cases.
In a COVID-19 Pierce County update posted Thursday, health department director Dr. Anthony Chen wrote that the county could be seeing an increase of cases or secondary transmissions from social gatherings over the Fourth of July weekend, along with more gatherings in general, with youths ages 20-29 continuing to drive the latest surge.
All of this is also leading to a “growth in the number of businesses experiencing small numbers of case,” he wrote Thursday. “The number of businesses experiencing cases is growing by about 5 to 10 per day.”
According to data posted on the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department COVID tracking page, a total of 13 outbreaks were recorded in the county the week of July 4, up from seven the week prior to that.
Outbreaks consist of at least two cases tied to the same location. The health department has said in recent updates that outbreaks are happening across a full spectrum of sites, with contact tracing cases numbering in the hundreds.
The county has reported 856 cases in the past 14 days, an average of 61.1 cases per day. The 14-day case rate per 100,000 people is 94.9.
Daily totals for cases and deaths can change as the county receives new information, finds duplicate data or is assigned cases originally attributed to other counties.
Testing is available at various sites in the county. This week, Rite Aid launched drive-thru testing at some of its stores in Washington, including 7041 Pacific Ave. in Tacoma, and 5700 100th Street SW, Suite 100 in Lakewood. More information is available at www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/services/covid-19-testing
For more information on other local testing sites, go to www.tpchd.org/covidtest.
Friday’s geographical case totals are listed below with previous day’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 88 (85)
▪ Central Pierce County: 234 (226)
▪ East Pierce County: 95 (92)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 150 (148)
▪ Frederickson: 128 (126)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 95 (no change)
▪ Graham: 101 (no change)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 18 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 119 (117)
▪ Lakewood: 356 (346)
▪ Parkland: 207 (203)
▪ Puyallup: 225 (no change)
▪ South Hill: 177 (173)
▪ South Pierce County: 72 (68)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 41 (40)
▪ Spanaway: 124 (118)
▪ Tacoma: 1,132 (1,112)
▪ University Place: 162 (160)
▪ Unknown: 32 (no change)
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 July 17, 2020 at 2:22 PM.
