Coronavirus updates: State officials advise taking steps to prevent another surge
The Washington state Department of Health reported Thursday 814 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and six deaths.
Pierce County reported 108 cases Thursday and no new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 191 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Thursday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 105,557, cases and 2,359 deaths, up from 104,743 cases and 2,353 deaths Wednesday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
Thirty-two people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Oct. 10, the most recent date with complete data. Average daily hospitalizations peaked in early April at 78.
On Oct. 18, the most recent date with complete data, 5,910 specimens were collected statewide, with 5% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 3.7%. More than 2.4 million tests have been conducted in Washington.
The test numbers reflect only polymerase chain reaction tests, which are administered while the virus is presumably still active in the body.
King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 27,021 cases and 814 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 11,900 cases and 273 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 10,228, according to the state’s tally.
All counties in Washington have cases. Eight counties have case counts of fewer than 100.
Pierce County ski town on the verge of collapse after floods, fires and COVID-19
February mudslides, a March pandemic, summer-long closures and September wildfires.
Small businesses in the Pierce County community of Greenwater are on the brink of closing after a year of natural disasters on top of a global health crisis.
Along the way to Crystal Mountain, Greenwater relies almost entirely on tourism the ski resort brings.
While small businesses across the state are hurting, 2020 has been acutely difficult for Greenwater. The barrage of hits to the unincorporated community along state Route 410 in Pierce County has felt overlooked, Alta Crystal Resort owner Maureen Gilbert said.
“You have COVID, in and of itself was hard for everyone, but then you add onto it two additional natural disasters that happened all this year. It was an epic year,” she said. “But because of our remoteness and because we’re small, it’s easy for us to be forgotten.”
Gilbert’s hotel has lost an estimated 40 percent of her annual revenue.
Residents are banking on a strong ski season come November to carry them through the tumultuous year. COVID-19 grants have helped to soften the blow for some, and Pierce County elected officials are working to provide further financial relief.
“If we don’t have a strong ski season, I don’t know what we’ll do,” Karlyn Clark, co-owner of Wapiti Outdoors told The News Tribune on Oct. 23.
Dave Morell is vice chairman of the Pierce County Council.
“There have been multiple challenges for them this year,” Morell said. “We are working to get them back on their feet and to get them some federal funding.”
‘We can head this off before it’s out of control,’ state health officials urge
Though Washington state is not seeing the strain on its healthcare system that other states are experiencing, the state’s top health officials warned that now is the time to take “meaningful steps” to prevent a another surge of COVID-19.
Western and Eastern Washington are both seeing COVID transmission rates increase, according to the latest statewide situation report on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
Estimates placed the infection rate of Western Washington at approximately 1.34, with it slightly lower in eastern portions of the state at 1.12. The goal is for the rate to be below 1.0, meaning each new case of COVID-19, on average, would be transmitted to fewer than one other person. Anything over 1.0 means the infection rates are growing.
Hospitalizations on both sides of the Cascades also are up in October, though they’re increasing more dramatically on the west side.
“It’s not too late to reverse these rates,” Washington State Department of Health Deputy Secretary of Health for COVID-19 Response Lacy Fehrenbach said during an online media briefing Wednesday. “Each of us can take meaningful steps to protect our friends, families and communities and our health care system.”
The recent growth in cases is widely distributed across the state, State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy said during the briefing, adding that Snohomish, Pierce, Thurston and Clark counties were seeing “pretty rapid increase,” though counties in middle portions of the state are also seeing increases.
Whatcom, Benton and Franklin counties have seen slowed growth recently, but Lofy cautioned that every corner of the state should be wary.
“We are concerned about the entire region,” Lofy said. “We know this virus doesn’t care about county borders.”
Coronavirus does seem to care about age, though, as Lofy said hospitalizations and deaths have a definite correlation to the age groups most infected.
Though infection rates across the state remain higher among adults 25 to 39 and 40 to 59, Lofy said all age groups are seeing increases, particularly in Western Washington.
“This concerns me, because we know when we see an increase in older ages we can expect to see increases in hospitalizations and deaths,” Lofy said.
Those concerns are heightened, Lofy said as she looks at infection, hospitalization and death rates increasing in other parts of the country, adding “one thing we’ve learned about this virus is it can sneak up on you really quickly.”
With holidays, such as Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, on the horizon, Fehrenbach said it is vital that everybody take steps to slow COVID’s spread by limiting social gatherings and wearing masks.
“Gatherings and get-togethers can be risky even with people you know and trust,” Fehrenbach said. “We recently saw an outbreak of six new cases in a group of friends that got together to watch their favorite football team.”
Rural school districts in Pierce County could reopen under new COVID-19 testing program
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department is developing a COVID-19 screening and testing pilot program for K-12 staff and students that will help rural school districts reopen for in-person learning.
The health department announced the program Thursday, a day after Peninsula School District announced it would partner with the health department to continue in-person learning — a move that “surprised” health officials, who were still finalizing the program.
Pierce County Council approved $7.8 million in CARES Act funds Wednesday for the project.
The program will help districts decide whether to hold in-person classes by testing school populations to help identify cases of COVID-19 and prevent outbreaks, according to health officials.
“Rural areas can face greater challenges in accessing testing but are well suited for this pilot. We can apply what we learn in larger urban environments,” Tacoma-Pierce County Director of Health Anthony Chen said in a news release. “Putting rural communities first is an equity-informed approach.”
Work is underway with the Eatonville School District to increase testing. Eatonville serves around 2,000 students.
Peninsula (9,000 students), White River (4,000 students) and Carbonado (200 students) have already “expressed interest in participating,” the health department said.
With a six-day data lag required in the state’s Safe Start measurements, the county’s case rate per 100,000 is 122.3, well above the “high” range, in which districts are recommended to continue remote learning.
Health officials said that those under 20 account for 17.3 percent of new cases over the past two weeks and make up an increasing number of positive cases.
The pilot program is in early stages of planning.
“We all want schools to get back to in-person learning as soon as it is safe to do so. Access to testing is critical in this effort,” Chen said.
Craig Sailor, Josephine Peterson and Allison Needles contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 9:03 AM.
