Virus cases pass 1,000 in Gig Harbor; near 300 on Key Peninsula; 18 now dead

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Gig Harbor reached 1,051 this week, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. The Key Peninsula had 303 cases.

Among four deaths reported in Pierce County on Thursday was that of a Gig Harbor man in his 70s, bringing 18 the total number deaths in the area. The Key Peninsula has had three deaths, none of them recent.

As of Thursday, Feb. 4, the total number of confirmed cases in Pierce County had reached 33,513, with 408 deaths.

Pierce County reported 2,678 cases in the 14 days ending Thursday, for a daily average of 216 — down slightly from the previous two-week period. The 14-day case rate per 100,000 population was 336. The target is fewer than 25.

Neighborhood numbers

As of Thursday, Feb. 4, there had been 232 total cases in the North Gig Harbor/Canterwood area (census tract 072505), 144 cases in the Wollochet area (census tract 072408), 115 cases in the Artondale area (census tract 072406), 85 cases in the Forest Beach-Kopachuck area (Census Tract 072405), 66 cases in the Sunrise Beach/Maplewood area (Census Tract 072506), 63 cases in the Bayview area (Census Tract 072409), 49 cases in the downtown area (Census Tract 072507) and 63 cases on Fox Island.

On the Key Peninsula, there have been 93 total cases in the Wauna/Purdy area (census tract 072503), 87 in the Vaughn area, (Census Tract 072601), 57 in the mid-Peninsula (Census Tract 072602) and 79 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 Thursday, Feb. 4, The Peninsula School District reported 34 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the schools, 29 of them originating outside the school system.

The district’s “COVID-19 Dashboard” listed five cases at Peninsula High School, four at Goodman Middle School, three each at Gig Harbor High School and Voyager Elementary School; two each at Purdy, Pioneer, Artondale and Evergreen elementary schools; one each at Key Peninsula, Kopachuck and Harbor Ridge middle schools; and one each at Harbor Heights and Vaughn elementary schools. There were also six cases at the Educational Service Center. Of the total number of cases, five — three at PHS, one at Goodman and one at Evergreen — originated on campus.

Five individuals were in quarantine after having been in close contact with infected persons: Four at Pioneer Elementary and one at the Educational Service Center. Due to privacy regulations, the district was unable to say whether they were staff or students.

The Covid Dashboard is online at .psd401.net/schoolreopening/covid-19-dashboard

Find a current list of locations where you can access vaccine at www.tpchd.org/vaxtothefuture.

This story was originally published February 1, 2021 at 5:30 AM.