Coronavirus updates: USDA extends free meals for kids; state passes 74k cases
Updated at 2:55 p.m.
Pierce County on Monday reported 33 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths.
County totals are now at 6,680 cases and 146 deaths since the first case in the coronavirus pandemic was recorded March 6.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has reported 650 cases in the past 14 days. The 14-day case rate per 100,000 people is 72.1. The goal for counties in Phase 2 is 25 or fewer per 100,000.
The 14-day average has been on a downward slope through August.
There are an estimated 1,572 still-active cases in the county, according to the health department.
The health department has created a new dashboard to show how the county is doing in terms of returning students to in-person classes. The dashboard is at TPCHD.org/covidinfoschools.
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. For more information on testing sites, go to www.tpchd.org/covidtest.
Monday’s geographical case totals are listed below with previous day’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 171 (169)
▪ Central Pierce County: 397 (395)
▪ East Pierce County: 205 (202)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 277 (275)
▪ Frederickson: 252 (no change)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 182 (no change)
▪ Graham: 225 (no change)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 49 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 216 (no change)
▪ Lakewood: 617 (616)
▪ Parkland: 364 (362)
▪ Puyallup: 388 (386)
▪ South Hill: 358 (353)
▪ South Pierce County: 160 (no change)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 69 (no change)
▪ Spanaway: 316 (313)
▪ Tacoma: 2,080 (2,073)
▪ University Place: 271 (no change)
▪ Unknown: 83 (80)
State reports 441 new cases Sunday
Updated at 9:05 a.m.
The Washington State Department of Health on Sunday reported 441 new confirmed cases of COVID-19.
DOH is no longer reporting COVID-19 death counts over the weekend. While all deaths will continue to be reported, DOH will now add the counts generated from the weekend to the following Monday and Tuesday reports.
Pierce County reported 26 new cases and no new deaths on Sunday. Pierce County had a total of 146 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Sunday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 74,320 cases and 1,905 deaths, up from 73,879 cases on Saturday.
Thirty-five people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Aug. 11, the most recent date with complete data. Late March had two days with 88 people admitted, the highest numbers to date during the pandemic.
On Aug. 19, the most recent date with complete data, 15,978 specimens were collected statewide, with 3.7% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 3.9%. More than 1.4 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 19,553 cases and 723 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 10,942 cases and 239 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 6,648.
All counties in Washington have cases. Garfield and Wahkiakum have case counts of fewer than 10.
On Sunday, Washington had a 980-per-100,000-people case rate. The national rate is 1,811, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Louisiana has the highest rate in the United States at 3,153. Vermont is lowest at 258.
There had been nearly 6 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 183,020 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 844,000 people have died from the disease worldwide.
USDA extends free meals for kids
Updated at 9:05 a.m.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture will extend several flexibilities through as late as Dec. 31.
The flexibilities allow summer meal program operators to continue serving free meals to all children into the fall months. This move will help ensure children have access to nutritious food during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“School Nutrition Association greatly appreciates USDA addressing the critical challenges shared by our members serving students on the frontlines these first weeks of school,” School Nutrition Association President Reggie Ross said in a release.
“These waivers will allow school nutrition professionals to focus on nourishing hungry children for success, rather than scrambling to process paperwork and verify eligibility in the midst of a pandemic. We look forward to continuing our dialogue with USDA to ensure school meal programs are equipped to meet the future needs of America’s students.”
Will Labor Day bring another coronavirus spike? Most in the US are worried, poll finds
Updated at 9:05 a.m.
After a substantial rise in coronavirus cases and deaths during the summer months, many in the United States are worried Labor Day weekend events could lead to another spike.
Apoll by WalletHub found 77% of respondents do not trust other Americans to be responsible with social distancing during Labor Day weekend, which is often celebrated with travel, family gatherings and outdoor events.
Memorial Day and Fourth of July festivities likely contributed to spikes in coronavirus cases in June and July, health officials have said.
The United States had about 1.7 million reported coronavirus cases in late May, compared to nearly 6 million in late August, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Linda Bell, South Carolina’s lead epidemiologist, said officials continue to have concerns ahead of Labor Day “because people go out and celebrate,” The State newspaper reported.
“There are ways that we can do these things much, much, much more safely than we have in previous holidays,” Bell said.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler said he is also worried about the coming weekend.
“I am nervous about families and friends getting together in large groups for Labor Day,” he wrote in a message posted online. “I’m worried about the many students coming back to Austin. While schools are working hard to mitigate risk, I’m worried returning students who have not been living with us will not know of or join in the masking and distancing discipline we’ve all learned.”
Seventy-five percent of 400 respondents in the WalletHub poll said they will not travel during for Labor Day this year.
Even so, about 6 million Americans plan on flying this weekend, Business Insider reported. Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando are expected to be popular travel destinations, along Cancun, Mexico, according to the publication.
“What happens ultimately depends on how risky those people are when they travel,” Dr. Spencer Fox, an epidemiologist at the University of Texas at Austin, told Business Insider. “If they treat it like a normal vacation and aren’t taking any precautions that would be recommended to reduce transmission, it could very well exacerbate local pandemics, and then mean that they bring the disease back to wherever they’re from.”
Puyallup facility is COVID-19 free after 69 cases, nine deaths
Updated at 9:05 a.m.
A long-term care facility in Puyallup says it’s now rid of coronavirus after reporting 69 cases and nine deaths.
All of the fatalities were patients, said Life Care Center of South Hill Executive Director Mindy Bradley.
Five of the deaths occurred at the facility, and four passed away at a hospital.
“Each resident we lost had underlying medical conditions,” Bradley said in a statement. “We mourn the residents we have lost and extend our sincerest sympathies to their families.”
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department is reporting that the care facility has seen 69 COVID-19 positive cases, two of which have been attributed to an initial outbreak in the spring, Company spokesperson Heidi Pino said.
Last month, a second outbreak began at the facility on 7th Street Southeast. Of the 67 recent COVID-19 cases, 31 were patients and 36 were staff.
Only one staff member remains sick, Bradley said.
Pino said the facility is admitting patients now that they are “officially COVID-19 free.”
This story was originally published August 31, 2020 at 9:07 AM.
