Pierce County moves into ‘third surge’ with rising COVID-19 cases
Pierce County reported 66 new COVID-19 cases Friday and one additional death.
The new death involved a man in his 60s from the Edgewood/Fife/Milton area with underlying health conditions.
Friday’s numbers come one day after Thursday’s new-case totals soared beyond 90, the highest single-day total since Aug. 13 when 91 new cases were listed. Aug. 5 was the highest single-day total so far during the pandemic, with 119 reported.
Dr. Anthony Chen, director of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, took to Twitter on Thursday evening to note that Pierce County is “in its third surge.”
The rise, according to Friday’s update from the health department, seemed in part to be driven by household spread.
“We are seeing a gradual rise in the number of confirmed cases over the last week. We have seen an increase in household transmission of COVID-19. We are not seeing the increase in a particular age group or in particular regions,” the department said.
County totals are now 8,445 confirmed cases and 179 deaths since the first case in the coronavirus pandemic was recorded March 6.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has reported 800 cases in the past 14 days. The 14-day case rate per 100,000 people is 88.7.
Average cases per day over the past 14 days are 57.1.
With a six-day data lag required in the state’s Safe Start measurements, the county’s case rate per 100,000 is 77.9.
“We are watching case counts closely to determine potential reasons for rise in the number of recent cases,” the health department said in Thursday’s daily update.
The 20-39 age group comprises the highest number of COVID-19 cases at 39 percent of total cases in the past two weeks. Those under 20 comprise 15.8 percent of cases in the past two weeks.
The county currently is in Phase 2 of Safe Start. Advancements in phases statewide remain on pause after outbreaks started over the summer after an initial slowdown.
There are an estimated 1,337 still-active cases in the county, according to the health department.
Hospitalization data, updated once a week on the health department’s dashboard, showed 5.9 percent of hospital beds in the county were occupied by COVID-19 patients as of Oct. 6 out of 81.7 percent total occupancy rate of beds. That’s compared with 3.8 percent at the start of September out of 80.8 percent total occupancy rate.
In comparison, the start of July saw 2.9 percent of beds occupied by COVID-19 patients out of 79.7 percent total bed occupancy.
Hospitalizations and deaths typically lag by a few weeks from initial daily case totals.
What it means for schools, sports
On Friday, the health department told school districts, “Now that we have crossed into the high level (of disease activity) in the state decision tree, we will watch to see if the rate is going to stay in that range for a sustained period. Our analysis shows it likely will.
“We are committed to providing a two-week observation period. It begins today, Oct. 9. If we stay in the high level for the next two weeks, you should follow the decision tree and return to remote learning Oct. 26.”
Additionally, “Under high COVID activity levels, games and competitions should not be held when in-person learning is not occurring. Only small groups of six can practice or train together.”
By the numbers
Testing is available at various sites in the county. For more information on testing sites, go to www.tpchd.org/covidtest.
Friday’s geographical case totals for Pierce County are listed below with previous day’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 216 (no change)
▪ Central Pierce County: 490 (487)
▪ East Pierce County: 304 (300)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 366 (365)
▪ Frederickson: 334 (330)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 233 (232)
▪ Graham: 291 (290)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 65 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 293 (284)
▪ Lakewood: 747 (742)
▪ Parkland: 445 (444)
▪ Puyallup: 497 (494)
▪ South Hill: 455 (449)
▪ South Pierce County: 233 (232)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 90 (no change)
▪ Spanaway: 377 (376)
▪ Tacoma: 2,602 (2,582)
▪ University Place: 325 (323)
▪ Unknown: 82 (81)
