Coronavirus updates: Pierce County reports 225 new cases, 2 deaths
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Tuesday, Dec. 15.
Pierce County expands testing effort with new site
Updated 4 p.m.
Due to increased demand, a new COVID-19 testing station is opening in Lakewood, Pierce County wrote in a release Tuesday.
The site, located at 3003 107th St. S was formerly used for vehicle emissions testing.
It is open from 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays and operated by the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management.
“Since the facility was originally set up for vehicles to line up and people to stay in their cars it was considered a good space for COVID testing,” the release says. “This site is for drive-thru testing only. The tests are free and open to everyone. People do not need to have symptoms to get tested at the station or the county’s mobile test sites.”
Mobile sites in the county have tested more than 70,000 people since opening in July, the release says. Testing surged in November with some sites testing 1,000 people per day. Nearly 25,000 were tested in November.
“The mobile sites were created to meet people where they lived and worked so testing was convenient — in addition to being free,” Pierce County Emergency Management Director Jody Ferguson said int he release. “The Pierce County COVID Testing Station has the same mission — to test as many people as possible, as conveniently as possible, and remain free.”
Those who take the test are notified of their result in 5-7 days.
Pierce County reports 225 new COVID-19 cases, 2 deaths
Updated 4 p.m.
Pierce County reported 225 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday.
Two deaths, a Fredrickson man in his 70s and a Tacoma woman in her 70s, were reported. Both had underlying health conditions.
The county’s totals are now at 21,479 cases and 261 deaths since the first confirmed case was reported in March.
The county has reported 4,788 cases in the past 14 days and its 14-day case rate per 1,000,000 is now 530.8. With a six-day data lag required in the state, the county’s case rate per 100,000 is 391.
Average cases per day in the past 14 days are at 342.
There are an estimated 8,471 confirmed cases still active in the county.
Testing is available at various sites in the county. More information on testing sites is available on the health department’s website.
Monday’s geographic case totals for Pierce County are listed below with Sunday’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 587 (582)
▪ Central Pierce County: 1,042 (1,033)
▪ East Pierce County: 849 (834)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 930 (923)
▪ Frederickson: 849 (840)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 710 (704)
▪ Graham: 722 (707)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 202041 (201)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 764 (758)
▪ Lakewood: 1,755 (1,739)
▪ Parkland: 1,067 (1,057)
▪ Puyallup: 1,346 (1,339)
▪ South Hill: 1,252 (1,236)
▪ South Pierce County: 667 (662)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 667 (662)
▪ Spanaway: 1,000 (986)
▪ Tacoma: 6,267 (6,206)
▪ University Place: 774 (765)
▪ Unknown: 422 (413)
Port Orchard diner has liquor license suspended over violations
Updated 11 a.m.
That One Place, a diner in Port Orchard, has had its liquor license suspended by by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) over “repeated COVID-19 public health and safety violations” the agency wrote in a release Monday.
The LCB “provided the licensee a 24-hour period to avoid the suspension by complying with state law,” but “the owner would not agree to follow the law,” the release says.
The diner was operating in violation of restrictions on indoor dining and had lax mask usage, LCB spokesperson Julie Graham told The Gateway.
“The most important thing for us at this time is enforcing the no-indoor-seating rule,” Graham said.
The owners of That One Place declined to comment to The Gateway on the suspension or the violations, but owner Craig Kenady told KCPQ Fox 13 earlier this month, “We’re going to make a stand and if we’re going to have to close our doors anyways, why not go out swinging?”
Graham said four complaints about That One Place had been received, followed by six site visits.
“They have consistently stated that they will not comply,” Graham said.
If the diner chooses to continue to serve food, Graham said further enforcement would fall to the Washington State Department of Labor and Industry (L&I).
“We don’t go out and put a padlock on the door but we’ve certainly used the abilities we have to get them to follow the requirements. If they don’t, it can be very costly and, in some cases, there could be some criminal involvement,” said Tim Church, the communications director of L&I.
“That of course would be the last thing that we would want to see happen but if someone disobeys a court order, they have to deal with the courts.”
The diner will not be able to serve alcohol legally for 180 days, though Graham said that could be extended. There are “appeal processes at every stage” if a business wishes to present exculpatory evidence challenging the suspension.
State Department of Health to disable text message notifications
Updated 9:30 a.m.
The Washington State Department of Health announced Tuesday it will disable all text message notifications for its subscription email topics beginning Dec. 22.
The health department said in a release that two factors led to this decision: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in subscribers and frequency of updates, and while email notifications are free, text messages have costs.
“Engagement data from our updates show that text messages are less useful to our customers than emails,” the release says.
Those who only subscribe by text and wish to continue receiving notifications are advised to create a new account and register by email. No action is necessary for those who already have an email subscription.
Questions can be directed to the department by email with the subject line “DOH text updates.”
“We may resume the text feature for specific topics where appropriate in the future,” the release says. “We thank you for your continued interest in vital public health information and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”
Washington state reports 2,353 new cases, 39 deaths
Updated 9 a.m.
The Washington State Department of Health reported 2,353 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Monday.
An additional 39 deaths have been reported since Friday. Deaths are no longer reported on weekends.
Statewide totals have reached 203,797 cases and 2,918 deaths, up from 201,876 cases Sunday and 2,879 deaths Friday.
King County continues to report the state’s highest counts for cases (54,535) and deaths (918).
Pierce County reported 194 new COVID-19 cases Monday, bringing its totals to 21,661 cases and 259 deaths. The county has the second-highest case totals in the state.
Each of the state’s 39 counties have reported positive cases and all but four have case counts higher than 100.
There are 1,293 cases that have not been assigned to a county.
There have been 3,380,344 tests conducted in the state with 6% coming back positive.
Pierce County receives first vaccine shipment
Updated 9 a.m.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department reported Monday it has received its first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech.
“We are working with federal, state and local partners to equitably distribute this safe and effective vaccine,” the department wrote in a blog post.
“Two other vaccines have shown promising results in clinical trials. And others are in different stages of development.
“This is great news! Vaccine protection against COVID-19 will help us end the pandemic. That gets us closer to businesses fully reopening, more children returning to in-person learning, and more time with friends and family.”
The vaccine will be distributed in phases, and more information about distribution planning can be found on the department’s website.
“Our state and federal partners considered many factors — prioritization of high-risk groups, vaccine supply and distribution, logistics, safety, clinical guidance — to arrive at this approach,” the post says.
“The goal is for everyone to be able to easily get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as large quantities are available. We will keep you up to date on vaccine availability for you and your family as more arrives. Ending this pandemic is possible. Getting vaccinated is the next step.”
Pierce County reports 194 new COVID-19 cases
Updated 9 a.m.
Pierce County reported 194 new COVID-19 cases Monday. No additional deaths were reported.
The county’s totals are now at 21,254 cases and 259 deaths since the first confirmed case was reported in March.
The county has reported 4,829 cases in the past 14 days and its 14-day case rate per 100,000 is now 535.4. With a six-day data lag required in the state, the county’s case rate per 100,000 is 343.7.
Average cases per day in the past 14 days are at 344.9.
The health department said Monday it has cleared its case count backlog and transitioned to its new data management system.
“We are not yet seeing increases we can attribute to Thanksgiving gatherings,” the department wrote on Twitter. “We expect to see any increases by the end of this week.
“Increases in testing volume can create delays in processing and reporting.”
There are an estimated 8,500 confirmed cases still active in the county.
Testing is available at various sites in the county. More information on testing sites is available on the health department’s website.
Monday’s geographic case totals for Pierce County are listed below with Sunday’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 582 (580)
▪ Central Pierce County: 1,033 (1,027)
▪ East Pierce County: 834 (819)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 923 (909)
▪ Frederickson: 840 (833)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 704 (no change)
▪ Graham: 707 (700)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 201 (200)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 758 (754)
▪ Lakewood: 1,739 (1,727)
▪ Parkland: 1,057 (1,050)
▪ Puyallup: 1,339 (1,318)
▪ South Hill: 1,236 (1,223)
▪ South Pierce County: 662 (655)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 269 (no change)
▪ Spanaway: 986 (980)
▪ Tacoma: 6,206 (6,155)
▪ University Place: 765 (757)
▪ Unknown: 413 (424)
Debbie Cockrell, Chase Hutchinson and Craig Sailor contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Coronavirus updates: Pierce County reports 225 new cases, 2 deaths."
