Pierce County metrics need to hold or improve to maintain Phase 2; vaccine clinics ramping up
Pierce County seems to be dancing on the head of a pin to stay in Phase 2 of the state’s COVID-19 recovery plan.
On Wednesday, officials from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department gave an update on how the county is doing in terms of the state’s Roadmap to Recovery metrics.
“Currently, we’re kind of not meeting one. We’re kind of close to not meeting on three of the others. We’re in that kind of gray area,” said Nigel Turner, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department director of communicable disease, at the regular Board of Health meeting.
“Moving forward, we have to maintain this level, at least three ... of the four to maintain in Phase 2,” he added.
Large gatherings that provoke community spread, officials noted, could easily throw the county back to Phase 1.
So no Super Bowl parties, for example, officials pleaded with the public this week.
The Roadmap to Recovery program, introduced in early January by Gov. Jay Inslee to replace the previous Safe Start phases, bundles counties together by region, where collectively they are measured under the metrics for reopening. Pierce County is measured along with King and Snohomish counties in the Puget Sound region.
Pierce County and its region moved to Phase 2 on Feb. 1. The next update from the state comes Feb. 12.
To stay in Phase 2 a region must meet at least three out of four metrics:
▪ Two-week decreasing or flat trend of active cases.
▪ Two-week decreasing or flat trend of new cases.
▪ ICU occupancy of less than 90 percent.
▪ COVID test positivity rate of less than 10 percent.
Turner told the Board of Health there remained “very high levels of disease in our community, although we have seen in the last few weeks, declining numbers after a peak in mid-January.”
“Pierce County’s been meeting three of four of the measures in the single region that we share with Snohomish and King counties,” he told board members Wednesday.
The overall trend in new cases over 14 days continues to be an issue for Pierce, which saw a 4 percent increase during the last reporting period.
“That’s one area that we haven’t been meeting, according to the definitions,” Turner said.
After spikes in mid-December and mid-January, Turner said, “Currently, we anticipate that cases will drop.”
He added, “Percent of positivity is currently at 9 (percent), just below 10,” he said. “Looking into the future, the percent of positivity is very hard to predict, because a lot of time we’re getting the data for the negative tests later on. So our anticipated numbers could actually be lower than what they are now. So that might be something that goes back up over 10, it might stay at 9, but it’ll be close for a while.
“In terms of hospitalizations, the admission rate continues to decline. That’s good news. And likewise, overall for the region, the percentage ICU capacity remains below 90 percent. So I think those two are fairly solid for the time being.”
The challenge before the county, he noted, is that Phase 2 in the Roadmap to Recovery plan allows for larger gatherings.
“Previously, indoor social gatherings weren’t permitted, outdoor gatherings have increased in number from 10 to 15. A big change is indoor dining is now permitted up to 25 percent capacity,” Turner said. “And other changes include the fitness and trainings have gone from very small groups to again 25 percent capacity. And then outdoor entertainment groups of 15 with a maximum of 200.”
Progress is being made, albeit slowly, in the county’s vaccination efforts.
Over last weekend, distribution of vaccines at a Gig Harbor event went without long wait times, according to participants who visited midday. That was a change from the first two, where participants told The News Tribune after the event that wait times were as long as three hours for some people.
A big help to the process, officials noted, was telling participants ahead of time not to show up any sooner than 10-15 minutes before their appointment.
“We’re going to get really good at vaccinating through a whole host of different strategies to reach different folks,” County Executive Bruce Dammeier said at Wednesday’s meeting. “I’ve been at four of the mass vaccination sites, and they are just getting better and better and better.”
On Thursday, Pierce County tweeted it had reached “284 vaccinations per hour with 11 lanes at 26 per lane per hour ... a new record for those of you keeping track.”
More mass vaccination clinics are planned for the weeks ahead, the health department said Thursday.
“We want to assure you the drive-thru vaccine events we’ve offered so far are just the beginning,” the department tweeted on Thursday. “We plan to offer phone registration soon, and we will bring events to different parts of Pierce County. Many more pharmacies will also offer vaccine soon.”
This week, Safeway-Albertsons announced its own ramp-up with vaccines being made available at all its Washington pharmacies, including Haggen, as early as Feb. 11.
Washington has about 1.7 million people eligible now for vaccines. Those eligible, Phase 1A and Phase 1B Tier 1, include front line health care workers, high-risk first responders, long-term care residents, those 65 and over and those 50 and older living in multigenerational households.
Given all that, Turner on Wednesday echoed what federal health officials have long said, the vaccines are not a quick fix to the pandemic until production picks up and supplies match demand.
“I think given the numbers of vaccinations, it’s still far too early to expect to see any impact from vaccination levels on the overall levels of disease in our community. Again, this is why we should maintain face coverings, hand washing, hygiene, minimizing large gatherings and so forth.”
This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
