Pierce County sees 40 new COVID-19 cases, one new death
Pierce County reported 40 new COVID-19 cases Thursday and one additional death.
The latest death involved a Tacoma woman in her 80s with underlying health conditions.
County totals are now 7,065 cases and 157 deaths since the first case in the coronavirus pandemic was recorded March 6.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has reported 518 cases in the past 14 days. The 14-day case rate per 100,000 people is 57.4. The goal for counties in Phase 2 is 25 or fewer per 100,000.
The average cases per day over the past 14 days is 37.0.
There are an estimated 1,237 still-active cases in the county, according to the health department.
In recent weeks, lower totals have allowed for some advancement in Safe Start goals toward reopening schools and visits to some long-term congregate care facilities.
To allow for the visits, state criteria for long-term care facilities need to be met. Those include 28 or more days since the last suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case in a resident or staff member, adequate staff, cleaning supplies and PPE, and a plan to manage patients and/or staff who test positive for COVID-19.
If the care facilities meet those criteria, it allows for some indoor visits, “limited to compassionate care situations, including end-of-life circumstances and psycho-social needs. Visits must follow strict safety protocol.”
Outdoor visits are allowed with masking, physical distancing and appropriate hygiene.
Facilities also may allow “window visits” with safety protocols.
A designated “essential support person” may visit a resident once per day if the resident is unable to participate in outdoor visits and if remote visitation technology is unavailable.
Testing mandates established in Phase 1 are required at the facilities, and screenings will continue for non-essential personnel, compassionate care and outdoor visitors, as well as essential support persons.
More information is available in the health department’s advisory posted online.
On Thursday the health department noted that it updated its race and ethnicity table under Alaska Native/American Indian to include 24 cases it removed Sept. 3, bringing the cumulative total for that segment to 109 confirmed cases and one death.
“The Tribal Health Authority has since clarified these positives were the result of PCR testing,” the health department said Thursday.
While the department offers a table on its COVID-19 tracker of cases by race, the data do not offer a complete picture as race/ethnicity data are not required of patients. The numbers reflect 77.1 percent of cases for which that data are available.
Other cumulative case totals and number of deaths by race/ethnicity as of Thursday: (deaths are second number listed)
▪ Asian: 326; 5
▪ Black or African-American: 732; 10
▪ Hispanic: 1,283; 10
▪ Multiple race: 127; 0
▪ Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: 285; 6
▪ White: 2,922; 84
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.
Thursday’s geographical case totals are listed below with previous day’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 176 (no change)
▪ Central Pierce County: 430 (425)
▪ East Pierce County: 238 (237)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 295 (292)
▪ Frederickson: 263 (261)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 192 (191)
▪ Graham: 239 (236)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 56 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 226 (222)
▪ Lakewood: 652 (650)
▪ Parkland: 384 (380)
▪ Puyallup: 422 (417)
▪ South Hill: 369 (no change)
▪ South Pierce County: 170 (no change)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 73 (72)
▪ Spanaway: 330 (328)
▪ Tacoma: 2,189 (2,167)
▪ University Place: 283 (281)
▪ Unknown: 78 (77)
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 2:10 PM.
