Coronavirus updates: Pierce County adds money to help businesses with rent, mortgage
Updated at 3:40 p.m.
The Washington state Department of Health on Wednesday reported 347 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and five deaths.
Pierce County reported 34 cases Wednesday and no new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 162 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Wednesday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 80,812 cases and 2,020 deaths, up from 80,465 cases and 2,015 Tuesday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
Twenty-two people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Aug. 28, 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 Sept. 5, the most recent date with complete data, 7,933 specimens were collected statewide, with 3.7% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 3.4%. More than 1.67 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 21,049 cases and 749 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 11,194 cases and 253 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 7,395.
All counties in Washington have cases. Eleven counties have case counts of fewer than 100.
On Wednesday, Washington had a 1,068-per-100,000-people case rate. The national rate is 1,986, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Louisiana has the highest rate in the United States at 3,418. Vermont is lowest at 272.
There had been more than 6.62 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 196,485 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Wednesday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation. More than 937,000 people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 29 million.
Pierce County reports 34 new cases
Updated at 3:40 p.m.
Pierce County reported 34 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday and no additional deaths.
County totals are now 7,261 cases and 162 deaths since the first case in the coronavirus pandemic was recorded March 6.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has reported 496 cases in the past 14 days. The 14-day case rate per 100,000 people is 55. 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 35.4.
In late July-early August, the county hit the peak in its second wave with more than 90 cases in its 14-day rolling average.
There are an estimated 1,032 still-active cases in the county, according to the health department.
The 20-39 age group remains the highest number of COVID-19 cases at 43.1 percent in the past two weeks.
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.
On Wednesday the health department noted that it updated the testing data on its dashboard “to include additional negative tests Madigan Hospital has provided since March 2020, which decreased the test positivity rate of 0.2-1.0% each week.”
It listed a 3 percent positive rate for the county for the week of Aug. 30-Sept. 5.
Testing is available at various sites in the county. For more information on testing sites, go to www.tpchd.org/covidtest.
Wednesday’s geographical case totals for Pierce County are listed below with previous day’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 178 (177)
▪ Central Pierce County: 440 (no change)
▪ East Pierce County: 245 (no change)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 309 (307)
▪ Frederickson: 276 (272)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 198 (no change)
▪ Graham: 244 (243)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 56 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 230 (no change)
▪ Lakewood: 659 (657)
▪ Parkland: 396 (394)
▪ Puyallup: 441 (436)
▪ South Hill: 382 (380)
▪ South Pierce County: 183 (181)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 75 (no change)
▪ Spanaway: 339 (no change)
▪ Tacoma: 2,243 (2,230)
▪ University Place: 291 (290)
▪ Unknown: 76 (no change)
Pierce County allocates more money to rental, mortgage assistance
Updated at 9:20 a.m.
Pierce County Council allocated $7.75 million to its small business relief funds in a Tuesday vote. The funding will come from the $158 million provided by the federal government in the CARES Act.
These newly allocated business monies will help Pierce County businesses negatively impacted by COVID-19 with rental and mortgage assistance.
Pierce County said there was an expressed need by businesses to help stay in their building. The Council moved money from the grant program, along with funding previously dedicated to other Economic Stabilization and Recovery programs to support the rent and mortgage assistance program.
Changes to the rent and mortgage assistance program include:
▪ Expanding eligibility to cover more businesses
▪ Allowing program funds to be applied to rent and mortgage payments retroactively
▪ Increasing the maximum amount of funding available to business from $5,000 a month to $8,000 a month with a total maximum amount received of $24,000 (previously $15,000).
State reports 327 new cases on Tuesday
Updated at 9:20 a.m.
The Washington state Department of Health on Tuesday reported 327 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and nine deaths.
Pierce County reported 26 cases Tuesday and two new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 162 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Monday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 80,465 cases and 2,015 deaths, up from 80,138 cases and 2,006 Monday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
Twenty-six people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Aug. 27, 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 Sept. 4, the most recent date with complete data, 12,022 specimens were collected statewide, with 3.7% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 3.4%. More than 1.66 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 20,960 cases and 748 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 11,186 cases and 252 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 7,364.
All counties in Washington have cases. Eleven counties have case counts of fewer than 100.
On Tuesday, Washington had a 1,064-per-100,000-people case rate. The national rate is 1,976, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Louisiana has the highest rate in the United States at 3,410. Vermont is lowest at 272.
There had been more than 6.59 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 195,501 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Tuesday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 931,000 people have died from the disease worldwide.
Feds won’t touch COVID-19 vaccines injected into Americans, officials say
Updated at 9:20 a.m.
The Trump administration insisted on Wednesday that federal officials, including members of the military, will not have a direct role in delivering COVID-19 vaccines or injecting them into Americans when one is approved for distribution.
Top officials working on “Operation Warp Speed,” the federal program to speed up the discovery, manufacturing and distribution of a coronavirus vaccine, spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to clear up what they admitted was confusion regarding the U.S. military’s role in securing a vaccine supply and helping get it out to the public.
Earlier this summer, President Donald Trump said the military had been “mobilized” to distribute the eventual vaccine in a similar role to their deployment in the spring, when thousands of National Guard and active duty forces fanned out across the United States to establish field hospitals and testing sites.
“I know there’s been a lot of confusion about what the role of the Department of Defense will be,” said one of the three senior administration officials on the call with reporters.
“For the overwhelming majority of Americans, there will be no federal official who touches any of the vaccine before it’s injected into Americans,” the official said. “So again, for the overwhelming majority of Americans, no federal official will touch a dose of vaccine before it is injected into Americans.”
McKesson Corporation was awarded a government contract in August to be the central distributor of the vaccine to point-of-care locations, like pharmacies. It will use delivery systems such as the United Parcel Service or Federal Express to move the doses across the country, the officials said.
“All of these companies will be intimately involved” in moving the vaccines, one official said.
The military will have a substantial role, the officials said, but it will be in the critical behind-the-scenes effort to make sure that once vaccine lines are started and injections begin, the half-dozen types of vaccines under development today do not get mixed up, leading a patient to receive the wrong medicine.
Kreidler extends emergency order on telehealth to Oct. 14
Updated at 9:20 a.m.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler extended his emergency order again, directing all state-regulated health insurers to make additional coverage changes to aid consumers during the coronavirus pandemic.
His order is in effect until Oct. 14 and requires health insurers to:
▪ Continue coverage for providing telehealth via methods including telephone and video chat tools such as Facetime, Facebook Messenger video chat, Google Hangout video, Skype and Go-to-Meeting.
▪ Cover all medically necessary diagnostic testing for flu and certain other viral respiratory illnesses billed during a provider visit for COVID-19 with no copay, coinsurance or deductible.
▪ Treat drive-up testing sites for COVID-19 as provider visit with no copay, coinsurance or deductible.
This story was originally published September 16, 2020 at 9:35 AM.
