Pierce County continues to see low numbers of new COVID-19 cases
Pierce County reported 57 new COVID-19 cases Monday with one new death, a Puyallup man in his 60s.
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 June 1 was 71.4 percent.
Over the weekend, the county reported 121 cases on Saturday and 50 on Sunday.
The county’s totals are now 50,046 cases and 580 deaths since the first confirmed coronavirus case was reported in March 2020.
Pierce County’s 14-day case rate per 100,000 was 172.2 as of June 3, with an eight-day reporting delay, and is trending downward, according to the state’s Roadmap to Recovery metric. That compares with the state’s rate of 140.5.
New hospitalizations per 100,000 over seven days was at 7.4, compared with the state’s rate of 5.8. The rate of new hospitalizations locally and statewide both are following downward trends.
Test positivity was at 6.7 percent from the week of May 16-22, the most recent data on the health department’s website, with the number of tests also down. The positivity rate is down from a peak of 11.5 percent the week of April 18.
Pierce County, along with the rest of the state, moved into Phase 3 of the Healthy WA: Roadmap to Recovery reopening plan on May 18, which allows for 50 percent capacity for most indoor activities. The state plans to move to a full reopening (full capacity at all businesses) as of June 30, sooner if the rate of Washingtonians over age 16 initiating vaccinations hits 70 percent or more before that date.
Rollbacks are possible if statewide hospital ICU capacity reaches 90 percent at any time.
Testing is available at various places. Local libraries in Tacoma and Pierce County also have test kits available for curbside pickup. More information on testing is available on the health department’s website.
GEOGRAPHIC TOTALS
Monday’s cumulative geographic totals with Friday’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 1,464 (1,456)
▪ Central Pierce County: 2,259 (2,246)
▪ East Pierce County: 2,414 (2,395)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 1,978 (1,968)
▪ Frederickson: 1,898 (1,891)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 1,542 (1,535)
▪ Graham: 1,712 (1,700)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 447 (443)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 1,930 (1,927)
▪ Lakewood: 3,967 (3,951)
▪ Parkland: 2,415 (2,403)
▪ Puyallup: 2,828 (2,816)
▪ South Hill: 2,955 (2,946)
▪ South Pierce County: 1,749 (1,734)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 699 (698)
▪ Spanaway: 2,382 (2,369)
▪ Tacoma: 13,291 (13,241)
▪ University Place: 1,553 (1,546)
▪ Unknown: 2,563 (2,553)
VACCINES
As of June 2:
▪ About 717,277 total doses have been given to Pierce County residents, according to TPCHD. More than 7 million doses have been administered statewide.
In the county, 45.4 percent of the total population has initiated vaccination, and 37 percent is fully vaccinated, compared with 50.61 percent in the state initiating vaccines and 43.86 percent fully vaccinated.
You can view vaccine participation by census tract on the health department’s website.
TPCHD includes vaccines administered to Pierce County residents at Joint-Base Lewis McChord in its total. It does not, however, have access to Veterans Affairs vaccine totals, which are also not entered into the Washington State Immunization Information System.
JBLM data is not included in any demographic information or on the health department’s vaccine map.
The state’s goal is to have at least 70 percent of those 16 and older having initiated vaccination by June 30. As of June 5, the state was at 64 percent.
Go to tpchd.org/vaxtothefuture or the county’s FindYourCovidShot.com website for information on local places offering vaccines and for vaccine registration. Walk-up vaccine sites run by the county and most TPCHD events now no longer require an appointment, and all TPCHD events are for first or second doses. Anyone age 12 or older can receive the Pfizer vaccine. Those younger than 18 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.
