Pierce County closing in on 400 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of outbreak
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department reported 221 new COVID-19 cases Friday. Seven additional deaths were reported.
The latest deaths involved:
▪ A Tacoma man in his 50s.
▪ A Puyallup man in his 60s.
▪ A Bonney Lake man in his 50s.
▪ A Tacoma woman in her 90s.
▪ A Lakewood woman in her 80s.
▪ A Lakewood man in his 70s.
▪ A Tacoma woman in her 80s.
The health department no longer assigns underlying condition status to individual deaths and instead counts underlying conditions as part of a percentage of the total number.
So far, 86.3 percent of those who have died in Pierce County had underlying health conditions.
The county’s totals are now 32,606 cases and 398 deaths since the first confirmed case was reported in March 2020.
With a six-day data lag required by the state, the county’s 14-day case rate per 100,000 is 365.6.
As a result of the Roadmap to Recovery metrics now used by the state for reopening plans, the health department on Friday unveiled a redesigned look on its online COVID-19 tracking tool, emphasizing the six-day data lag result for the county’s 14-day case rate. That element is one of the four metrics used to measure progress in phase advancement.
“This focus on two-week rates gives us a better look at how COVID-19 affects our region,” the department said on Friday.
The metrics for counties, grouped by region, include:
▪ A 10 percent decline in case rates per 100,000 population over the last 14 days compared to the prior two weeks;
▪ A 10 percent decline in two-week COVID-19 hospital admission rate per 100,000 population;
▪ Average seven-day intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy rate below 90%; and
▪ A test positivity rate below 10 percent.
Pierce County, in the Puget Sound Region along with King and Snohomish counties, on Thursday was allowed to advance to Phase 2 starting Monday.
Regional progress will be measured every two weeks.
Pierce County has reported 3,033 COVID-19 cases in the past 14 days, and its 14-day case rate per 100,000 is now 336.3. Average cases per day in the past 14 days are at 216.6.
There are an estimated 7,306 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.
The health department also has a page on its website with information about the COVID-19 vaccine, including how individuals can determine eligibility as well as a list of locations around the county where the vaccine might be available.
GEOGRAPHIC TOTALS
Friday’s geographic case totals for Pierce County are listed below with previous day’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 890 (888)
▪ Central Pierce County: 1,523 (1,513)
▪ East Pierce County: 1,390 (1,382)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 1,345 (1,336)
▪ Frederickson: 1,237 (1,230)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 1,034 (1,026)
▪ Graham: 1,096 (1,093)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 297 (296)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 1,148 (1,141)
▪ Lakewood: 2,656 (2,634)
▪ Parkland: 1,596 (1,585)
▪ Puyallup: 1,913 (1,904)
▪ South Hill: 1,881 (1,871)
▪ South Pierce County: 1,003 (993)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 452 (448)
▪ Spanaway: 1,540 (1,532)
▪ Tacoma: 9,266 (9,214)
▪ University Place: 1,108 (1,096)
▪ Unknown: 1,231 (1,203)
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 2:59 PM.
