781 COVID-19 cases in Gig Harbor; one care facility has had 35 cases since March
Updated Wednesday Dec. 30
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Gig Harbor area rose to 781 last week, with two additional deaths. There were 228 cases on the Key Peninsula, with one additional death.
Countywide, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department reported 148 new cases and no new deaths Sunday, bringing the Pierce County total to 24,468 cases and 281 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. On Friday, Dec. 18, the death of a Key Peninsula woman in her 70s was added.
Since the pandemic began in March, the Gig Harbor area has had 9 deaths and the Key Peninsula three.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has reported 3,419 cases in the 14 days ending Sunday, for an average of 243 a day. The 14-day case rate per 100,000 is 378. The goal is fewer than 25.
Neighborhood numbers
As of Sunday, Dec. 17, there were 171 active cases in the North Gig Harbor/Canterwood area (census tract 072505), 117 cases in the Wollochet area (census tract 072408), 86 cases in the Artondale area (census tract 072406), 54 cases in the Forest Beach-Kopachuck area (Census Tract 072405), 55 cases in the Sunrise Beach/Maplewood area (Census Tract 072506), 27 cases in the downtown area (Census Tract 072507) and 53 cases on Fox Island.
Thirty-five cases were reported at Heron’s Key, a long-term health facility in the North Gig Harbor area. A spokesman for the facility, who declined to be named, said those numbers were cumulative. At present, she said, there are only two active cases, both staff members who are recovering at home.
On the Key Peninsula, there were 62 active cases in the Wauna/Purdy area (census tract 072503), 62 in the Vaughn area, (Census Tract 072601), 42 in the mid-Peninsula (Census Tract 072602) and 55 in the Lakebay area (Census Tract 072603), which includes McNeil and Anderson islands.
(Census tract numbers do not add up to the area total of active cases because some patients are presumed recovered.)
School numbers
As of Friday, Dec. 25, The Peninsula School District reported 23 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the schools, 19 of them originating outside the school system.
The district’s “COVID-19 Dashboard” listed five cases at Peninsula High School, three each at Gig Harbor High School, Voyager Elementary School and Goodman Middle School; two each at Purdy Elementary and Artondale Elementary; and one each at Key Peninsula, Kopachuck and Harbor Ridge middle schools and Harbor Heights Elementary school. There was also a single case at the Educational Service Center. Of the total number of cases, four — three at PHS and one at Goodman — originated on campus.
Six people were in quarantine because of close contacts with persons who tested positive. Four were at Key Peninsula Middle School and two at Goodman Middle School
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 30, 2020 at 5:00 AM.