Coronavirus updates: Pierce County reports 370 new cases, 5 deaths
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Tuesday, Dec. 29.
Pierce County now reporting vaccination numbers
Updated 3:15 p.m.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department started reporting COVID-19 vaccination counts Monday.
The department wrote Tuesday afternoon on Twitter that “about 8,000 people who work in Pierce County or reside in a local long-term care facility received their first dose of vaccine in Pierce County.”
About 5,000 residents received their first dose either in Pierce County or the county they work in, the department’s website says.
“We are following DOH’s vaccination guidelines,” the department’s website says. “Phase 1A prioritizes front line healthcare workers who have gotten vaccinated in their workplace — a hospital, a medical clinic or a pharmacy — as well as long-term care center (LTC) residents.”
Vaccination counts will be updated weekly beginning Wednesday.
Pierce County reports 370 new COVID-19 cases, 5 deaths
Updated 3:15 p.m.
Pierce County reported 370 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday.
“Holiday-related delays, weekend processing delays and batch processing at labs contributed to the higher number of cases we are reporting today,” the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department wrote on Twitter.
Five additional deaths were reported. Two — a Tacoma woman in her 70s and a Puyallup woman in her 70s — had underlying health conditions. Three — a Tacoma man in his 70s, a Gig Harbor woman in her 90s and a Central Pierce County woman in her 50s — did not have known underlying health conditions.
The county’s totals are now at 24,939 cases and 288 deaths since the first confirmed case was reported in March.
The county has reported 3,470 cases in the past 14 days and its 14-day case rate per 100,000 is now 384.7. With a six-day data lag required in the state, the county’s case rate per 100,000 is 498.9. Average cases per day in the past 14 days are at 247.9.
“The 14-day average offers the most accurate look at current COVID-19 disease burden in Pierce County,” TPCHD wrote on Twitter.
There are an estimated 8,616 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.
GEOGRAPHIC TOTALS
Tuesday’s geographic case totals for Pierce County are listed below with Monday’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 698 (681)
▪ Central Pierce County: 1,189 (1,176)
▪ East Pierce County: 994 (979)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 1,042 (1,024)
▪ Frederickson: 984 (976)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 796 (782)
▪ Graham: 842 (827)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 229 (228)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 874 (867)
▪ Lakewood: 2,027 (1,997)
▪ Parkland: 1,234 (1,210)
▪ Puyallup: 1,545 (1,531)
▪ South Hill: 1,471 (1,447)
▪ South Pierce County: 762 (758)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 332 (326)
▪ Spanaway: 1,173 (1,149)
▪ Tacoma: 7,223 (7,124)
▪ University Place: 871 (856)
▪ Unknown: 653 (631)
Senate majority leader blocks push to vote on $2K relief checks
Updated 11 a.m.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the push for the senate to vote on increasing the value of COVID-19 relief checks Tuesday, according to a report from the Associated Press.
President Donald Trump’s call for millions of American adults to receive stimulus checks of $2,000 instead of $600 in the latest relief package was passed by the House on Monday.
McConnell said the chamber would “begin a process” to address the issue, the report says.
“A growing number of Republicans, including two senators in runoff elections on Jan. 5 in Georgia, have said they will support the larger amount,” the report says. “But most GOP senators oppose more spending, even if they are also wary of bucking Trump.
“The outcome is highly uncertain heading into the rare holiday-week session.”
Democratic senators like Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, who support the increase in aid, plan to block action on overturning Trump’s defense bill veto until a vote on relief is held.
House approves $2K relief checks, sending to Senate
Updated 9 a.m.
The House voted Monday to increase the COVID-19 relief checks being sent to millions of American adults to $2,000, according to a report from the Associated Press.
President Donald Trump had called for larger payments before signing the original package passed by Congress that included $600 stimulus checks Sunday.
Democrats led the passage of this push for additional assistance, 275-134, with dozens of Republicans joining in approval.
The bill is now sent to the GOP-controlled Senate. Senators were set to return to session Tuesday.
3rd Western State patient dies from COVID-19
Updated 9 a.m.
A third patient from Western State Hospital has died from COVID-19, the state Department of Social and Health Services announced Monday.
The state-run behavioral health hospital in Lakewood had its second patient die from the disease caused by the novel coronavirus less than a week ago. The first patient death occurred in March.
The third patient died Dec. 24 at a local hospital they had been at for several weeks, according to DSHS. No identifying characteristics were given.
“We are saddened that this virus has taken another one of our patients,” DSHS assistant secretary Sean Murphy said.
There have been eight staff members and three patients at Western State who have tested positive as of Monday. Patients who are symptomatic or have tested postitive have been moved to separate wards.
More than 600 frontline workers at Western State have been voluntarily vaccinated.
Washington state reports 1,311 new cases, 11 deaths
Updated 9 a.m.
The Washington State Department of Health reported 1,311 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and 11 additional deaths since Thursday.
Data on deaths is not up to date due to a processing problem according to the department.
Statewide totals have reached 238,672 cases and 3,195 deaths. The case total includes 9,000 cases that are listed as probable. Sunday’s count was 237,361 cases and 3,184 deaths as of Thursday.
Previous case and death counts are revised daily by the DOH.
King County continues to report the state’s highest counts for cases (61,148) and deaths (977), while Pierce County is second in cases with 25,070 and Snohomish County has the second-highest death count at 348.
Each of the state’s 39 counties have reported positive cases and all but four have reported more than 100.
The state has had a case rate of 23.8 per 100,000 people the past seven days. The national rate for the past week is 54.5 per 100,000 per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to DOH, more than 30,000 high-risk health care workers had been vaccinated in the state as of last week.
Pierce County reports 101 new COVID-19 cases, 2 deaths
Updated 9 a.m.
Pierce County reported 101 new COVID-19 cases Monday, though “holiday-related delays resulted in lower than expected cases today,” the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department wrote on Twitter.
Two additional deaths — a Tacoma man in his 80s and a Tacoma woman in her 90s — were also reported. Both had underlying health conditions.
The county’s totals are now at 24,569 cases and 283 deaths since the first confirmed case was reported in March.
The county has reported 3,325 cases in the past 14 days and its 14-day case rate per 100,000 is now 368.6. With a six-day data lag required in the state, the county’s case rate per 100,000 is 539.9. Average cases per day in the past 14 days are at 237.5.
There are an estimated 8,511 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.
GEOGRAPHIC TOTALS
Monday’s geographic case totals for Pierce County are listed below with Sunday’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 681 (679)
▪ Central Pierce County: 1,176 (1,171)
▪ East Pierce County: 979 (972)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 1,024 (1,023)
▪ Frederickson: 976 (971)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 782 (781)
▪ Graham: 827 (819)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 228 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 867 (862)
▪ Lakewood: 1,997 (1,995)
▪ Parkland: 1,210 (1,205)
▪ Puyallup: 1,531 (1,522)
▪ South Hill: 1,447 (1,437)
▪ South Pierce County: 758 (754)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 326 (325)
▪ Spanaway: 1,149 (1,146)
▪ Tacoma: 7,124 (7,102)
▪ University Place: 856 (852)
▪ Unknown: 631 (624)
Craig Sailor and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 29, 2020 at 9:00 AM.
