Two new deaths in Gig Harbor as COVID-19 cases mount to 717; Key Peninsula has 211
Updated Thursday Dec. 17
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Gig Harbor area rose to 717 this week, with two additional deaths. There were 211 cases on the Key Peninsula.
Countywide, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department reported 269 new cases and five new deaths Thursday, bringing the Pierce County total to 21,908 cases and 268 deaths.
Deaths reported Thursday, Dec. 17, included a man in his 70s and another in his 60s from the Gig Harbor area. Both had underlying health conditions. Also reported were the deaths of a man in his 70s and a women in her 60s, both of Tacoma, and a woman in her 80s from Lakewood.
Since the pandemic began in March, the Gig Harbor area has had 9 deaths and the Key Peninsula two.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has reported 4,698 cases in the last 14 days, for an average of 336 a day. The 14-day case rate per 100,000 is 521. The goal is fewer than 25.
Neighborhood numbers
As of Thursday, Dec. 17, there were 153 active cases in the North Gig Harbor/Canterwood area (census tract 072505), 107 cases in the Wollochet area (census tract 072408), 82 cases in the Artondale area (census tract 072406), 51 cases in the Forest Beach-Kopachuck area (Census Tract 072405), 50 cases in the Sunrise Beach/Maplewood area (Census Tract 072506), 24 cases in the downtown area (Census Tract 072507) and 52 cases on Fox Island.
On the Key Peninsula, there were 69 active cases in the Wauna/Purdy area (census tract 072503), 53 in the Vaughn area, (Census Tract 072601), 40 in the mid-Peninsula (Census Tract 072602) and 53 in the Lakebay area (Census Tract 072603), which includes McNeil and Anderson islands.
(Census tract numbers do not add up to the area total because some patients are presumed recovered.)
School numbers
As of Thursday, Dec. 17, The Peninsula School District reported 20 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the schools, 16 of them originating outside the school system.
The district’s “COVID-19 Dashboard” listed five cases at Peninsula High School, three at Voyager Elementary, three at Goodman Middle School, two at Purdy Elementary, two at Artondale Elementary and one each at Gig Harbor High School, Kopachuck Middle School, and Harbor Heights, Harbor Ridge, and Discovery elementary schools. There was also a single case at the Educational Service Center. Of the total number of cases, four — at PHS and Goodman — originated on campus.
Fifteen people were in quarantine because of close contacts to persons who tested positive. Eight were at Voyager Elementary, three were at Goodman Middle School, three at Harbor Ridge Elementary and one at Artondale Elementary.
For privacy reasons, the district was unable to say whether they were students or staff.
The Covid Dashboard is online at .psd401.net/schoolreopening/covid-19-dashboard
This story was originally published December 7, 2020 at 11:35 AM.