Pierce County’s number of weekly COVID-19 cases on the rise over past three weeks
Pierce County reported 496 new COVID-19 cases for April 6-12 and three new deaths.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department in its Tuesday update said, “Our COVID-19 case rate is up slightly this week and the number of weekly cases has risen the last three weeks. Our hospitalization rate and number of deaths remain low.”
Hospitalizations and deaths are lagging indicators, and an upward trend in them generally follows an increase in cases.
As of April 12, 70 percent of the people who have died of COVID in the county had underlying health conditions, according to the health department dashboard.
The latest deaths include:
▪ A woman in her 80s from Lakewood.
▪ A woman in her 80s from Southwest Pierce County.
▪ A woman in her 50s from Tacoma.
The county’s totals are 187,042 cases and 1,316 deaths since the first confirmed coronavirus case was reported in March 2020.
Pierce County’s 14-day case rate per 100,000 was 73.8 for March 17-30, up from 67.6 in the previous last 2-week period measured.
The 7-day rate of hospitalizations per 100,000 was at 1.4 for March 24-30, down from 1.6 in the previous count.
More information on testing is available on the health department’s website.
GEOGRAPHIC TOTALS
Tuesday’s cumulative geographic totals, with April 5 totals in parentheses (totals now include both positive antigen and positive PCR tests):
▪ Bonney Lake: 6,645 (6,620)
▪ Central Pierce County: 8,770 (8,704)
▪ East Pierce County: 11,226 (11,175)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 7,515 (7,429)
▪ Frederickson: 7,773 (7,737)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 7,369 (7,333)
▪ Graham: 7,569 (7,527)
▪ Key Peninsula: 2,461 (2,453)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 7,718 (7,664)
▪ Lakewood: 13,770 (13,673)
▪ Parkland: 7,994 (7,965)
▪ Puyallup: 10,857 (10,774)
▪ South Hill: 11,784 (11,705)
▪ South Pierce County: 8,114 (8,079)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 3,103 (3,083)
▪ Spanaway: 8,898 (8,863)
▪ Tacoma: 47,235 (46,911)
▪ University Place: 5,906 (5,877)
▪ Unknown: 2,335 (2,408)
VACCINES
Pierce County’s vaccination rate is 70 percent fully vaccinated for those eligible, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Among Pierce County’s total population, TPCHD lists the county as 65 percent fully vaccinated, compared with the state rate of 67.6 percent listed by DOH as of April 6.
Percentage of those in each age range who have received at least one dose of vaccine in Pierce County as posted by TPCHD on April 7:
▪ 5-11: 28.8 percent
▪ 12-17: 60.9 percent
▪ 18-19: 77.7 percent
▪ 20-34: 72.9 percent
▪ 35-49: 78.8 percent
▪ 50-64: 79.9 percent
▪ 65-79: 84.9 percent
▪ 80 and older: 94.3 percent
You can view vaccine participation by census tract on the local health department’s website.
Go to tpchd.org/vaxtothefuture or the county’s FindYourCovidShot.com website for information on 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 5 or older is eligible for the Pfizer vaccine, and anyone 16 or older is eligible for a booster six months after completing a two-dose mRNA vaccine series (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) or two months after receiving the single shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 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.
