Pierce County COVID-19 rate means Phase 3 is slipping away
State and local health officials on Wednesday warned that some counties, including Pierce, were dangerously close to moving back to Phase 2 in the next round of Roadmap to Recovery metrics.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s staff told Board of Health members that Pierce County could return to Phase 2 next week.
The state’s “Roadmap to Recovery” plan has metrics on case rates and hospitalizations for each phase, both of which health officials said Pierce County was failing to meet.
Pierce County and the rest of the state are currently slotted in Phase 3, but the county is seeing higher rates than Phase 3 metrics.
Rising cases have challenged the county since Mid-March. On Wednesday, the county reported 101 new cases.
Nigel Turner, director of the communicable disease division of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, said that within the Roadmap to Recovery metrics, Pierce County was not meeting the targets in cases per 100,000 to be below 200 over two weeks, or in hospitalizations.
The county is at 183.6 per 100,000 with a six-day data lag, and has already climbed past 200 in the 14-day rate.
Turner said the hospitalizations target is five per 100,000 over seven days, and currently the county is at 6.2.
“So as it stands right now, we will be moving back to Phase Two, effective the end of next week, looking at the data,” he said.
He added that positivity rates for testing had risen slightly to 5.9 percent.
Warnings about moving backward in the state’s phases also were echoed earlier Wednesday.
Lacy Fehrenbach, Deputy Secretary of Health for the state, said at Wednesday’s DOH news briefing that “When we look at our data, there are a handful of counties that are sort of at the threshold or above the threshold for case rates or hospitalizations. And there is a decent likelihood that a handful will potentially be moved back on Monday when we announce.
“For counties that are on the bubble, so to speak, and concern that they might be moved back, this is not the time to let down your guard. That’s the time to double down on your efforts.”
Dr. Umair Shah, Secretary of Health for the state, said: “Case counts are increasing in many places, including four of the five largest counties that we have. The sharpest increases, as I mentioned last week are the younger people, and it’s particular in ages 10s and 20s, the teens to 20s, all the way into the 30s and 40s. We know that these are populations that are also least likely to be vaccinated. Hospital admissions are flattening. But in many ways, we’re also seeing many age groups increasing, and that is of concern to us.”
Starting April 15, COVID vaccine eligibility will open up to all those ages 16 and older, though getting a vaccine will become as challenging as ever. State allocation for the next week is lower as a result of a recent Johnson & Johnson vaccine mixup at a Baltimore production facility.
Representatives with the state Department of Health on Wednesday noted Washington is averaging 60,000 vaccines a day, beyond the original goal of 45,000, with 80,000 doses administered multiple times over the course of seven days.
This story was originally published April 8, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
