Pierce County reports more than 170 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday
Pierce County reported 179 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday with two additional deaths.
The latest deaths involved:
▪ A Tacoma woman in her 60s.
▪ A Tacoma woman in her 70s.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department no longer assigns underlying condition status to individual deaths it reports and instead counts underlying conditions as part of a percentage of the total number of deaths, which as of May 4 was 75.7 percent.
The county’s totals are now 45,089 cases and 534 deaths since the first confirmed coronavirus case was reported in March 2020.
On May 4, Gov. Jay Inslee announced a pause in taking action based on the state’s Roadmap to Recovery metrics after a plateau of cases was observed in the state’s overall numbers over the weekend. All counties will remain in their current phase, which, for Pierce, means Phase 2. Pierce was one of three counties to be rolled back in April, with metrics then that were similar to counties now that faced their own rollbacks to Phase 2.
Ferry County also voluntarily rolled itself back to Phase 2 based on its case rate.
The 14-day case rate per 100,000 for Pierce County was 374.2 as of May 2 with an eight-day reporting delay, according to the state’s Roadmap to Recovery metric. Phase 2 allows for 200-350 cases per 100,000.
New hospitalizations per 100,000 over seven days also need to stay between 5-10 in Phase 2. Pierce County was at 8.7.
The next evaluation will come in two weeks. Counties must stay within at least one metric to retain a phase. If a county fails both, it slides back one phase. Counties that meet both metrics of a higher level phase can advance one phase.
Testing is available at various places. Local libraries in Tacoma and Pierce County also offer test kits available for curbside pickup. More information on testing is available on the health department’s website.
GEOGRAPHIC TOTALS
Tuesday’s cumulative geographic totals with Friday’s reported totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 1,289 (1,279)
▪ Central Pierce County: 2,030 (2,024)
▪ East Pierce County: 2,106 (2,091)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 1,813 (1,806)
▪ Frederickson: 1,676 (1,666)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 1,414 (1,409)
▪ Graham: 1,502 (1,496)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 406 (404)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 1,729 (1,717)
▪ Lakewood: 3,631 (3,620)
▪ Parkland: 2,174 (2,166)
▪ Puyallup: 2,569 (2,562)
▪ South Hill: 2,594 (2,582)
▪ South Pierce County: 1,467 (1,457)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 645 (641)
▪ Spanaway: 2,122 (2,113)
▪ Tacoma: 12,264 (12,235)
▪ University Place: 1,444 (1,438)
▪ Unknown: 2,214 (2,203)
VACCINES
As of May 1:
▪ About 542,440 total doses given to Pierce County residents, according to the state Department of Health. More than 5.58 million have been administered statewide.
In the county, 34.63 percent of the population has initiated vaccination, and 25.14 percent are fully vaccinated, compared with 43.65 percent in the state initiating vaccines, and 31.20 percent fully vaccinated, according to state DOH.
A map showing the percentage of those vaccinated by geographic areas has been added to the health department’s COVID data page.
▪ Vaccine access in the state is open to all residents 16 and older with no qualifying conditions required. The Pfizer vaccine is available to those 16 and older, while Moderna and Johnson & Johnson is available to those 18 and older, as per the vaccines’ emergency authorization use. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine on April 23 was recommended by federal health officials for a return to use, following a recent pause in distribution nationwide pending a safety review over rare blood clots.
Go to tpchd.org/vaxtothefuture or the county’s FindYourCovidShot.com website for information on local sites offering vaccines and for vaccine registration. As of April 30, walk-up vaccine sites in the county run by the county and TPCHD no longer require an appointment. Those younger than 18 still need parent or guardian approval. Locations of individual vaccine sites also can be found on the state’s vaccine finder: vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov.
▪ The health department’s call center to help those seeking vaccines is 253-649-1412.
▪ Pierce County also has a call center to help those searching for vaccines. Residents who need assistance signing up for an event can contact the call center at 253-798-8900 or email pcvaccine@piercountywa.gov for help.
