Thurston County confirmed 10 deaths due to COVID-19 and 716 cases the week of May 23-29.
Six women died: two in their 50s, one in her 70s, two in their 80s and one in her 90s. Four men also died: one in his 70s, one in his 80s and two in their 90s. These are the first confirmed deaths since April 28.
An additional 102 cases were added on Monday. In all, Thurston County Public Health and Social Services has recorded 49,381 cases and 379 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
Of that total, PHSS considers 48,227 cases as recovered or recovering, meaning 1,154 confirmed cases remained active as of Tuesday.
From May 16-22, PHSS reported 807 cases and no deaths. Though still high, the latest weekly case count broke a 10-week streak of steadily increasing numbers.
As of Thursday, the state Department of Health considers disease activity to be "high" in Thurston County — the highest rating they use.
The county's case rate per 100,000 people reached 480.1 from May 5-18, according to the state. This is up from a recent low rate of 67.4 from March 16-29.
The record high case rate was 3,108.6 from Jan. 2-15, the data shows.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention increased the county's COVID-19 Community Level from "low" to "medium" on May 19, indicating higher risk. That rating remained in place on Tuesday.
Outbreaks and hospitalizations
As of Sunday, PHSS was investigating 22 ongoing outbreaks at congregate care settings. So far, there have been 211 such outbreaks during the pandemic — two more than the previous week.
At school settings, PHSS reported 30 closures involving 185 cases during the month of May. North Thurston Public Schools had nine closures with 37 cases, and the Olympia School District had 14 closures with 89 cases.
The Tumwater School District saw three closures involving 20 cases, and Yelm Community School had just one closure the week of May 16-22 with 26 cases.
Private schools experienced two closures involving 10 cases in May, according to PHSS.
PHSS confirmed six people were hospitalized with COVID-19 over the past week. Since the start of the pandemic, the data show 2,345 Thurston County residents with COVID have been hospitalized at some point in their illness.
About 75% of county residents who were hospitalized had a known underlying condition, according to a May 25 weekly report. However, it's possible some had an unknown underlying condition.
Among the 369 who died before May 22, the report says 100% had a known underlying condition.
Hospitalizations started falling from record highs in mid-January but rebounded in early April.
There were about 9.6 hospitalizations per 100,000 people from May 12-18 in Thurston County, according to the latest state data. This is up from a recent low of 0.3 from April 1-7.
The current record high rate was 38.1, recorded from Jan. 9-15.
Over a seven-day period ending last Thursday, 95.2% of Intensive Care Unit beds were occupied in the West region, which includes Thurston County and some of its neighbors. The data show 5.6% of those ICU beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Hospitals in the region were 91.3% full over a seven-day period, while COVID-19 patients accounted for 6.10%.
Vaccinations and tests
In Thurston County, 66% of all residents completed their primary series of vaccinations by May 25, and 72.7% had initiated their primary series, according to state data.
Meanwhile, the data show 76.9% of Thurston County residents 5 and older have initiated vaccinations and 69.8% had completed their primary series.
As of May 9, 81.8% of the state population 5 and older had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 74.4% had completed their primary series. The state percentages include aggregate data from the Department of Defense and Veteran Affairs, both of which are not entirely reflected in the state's data dashboard.
In Thurston County, the state reports 59% of those 12 and older have received a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of May 25. Across the state, about 58.7% of that population have gotten a booster.
Thurston County PHSS continues to offer free vaccination events, including for booster shots, every week. Events are listed on their coronavirus vaccine information website.
Eligible residents can also find appointments at local providers such as pharmacies by visiting the state's Vaccine Locator website.
Those who have difficulty scheduling appointments online can call the Department of Health vaccine hotline at 888-856-5816 or the Thurston County Public Health and Social Services line at 360-867-2610. Information for Spanish speakers is available at these numbers as well.
About 15.6% of confirmed molecular and antigen tests returned a positive result in Thurston County from May 11-17, according to DOH data. Over the same period, the state had an overall test positivity rate of 14.6%.
The DOH says it does not separate antigen test data from molecular test data because negative antigen tests are often not reported.
However, testing results are an undercount because of at-home testing. While point-of-care testing facilities are required to report a result to public health within 24 hours of the test, per state law, those who take at-home tests aren't included in testing and case data if they do not self report.
Anyone who tests at home can report their positive result to Washington's COVID-19 hotline at 800 — 525 — 0127. People also can share their diagnosis through the state's exposure notification system, WA Notify, on their Android phone or iPhone.
Self-reporting in this way can help public health contact tracers inform others of potential exposure. Those who use the WA Notify system also can receive notifications about potential exposure.
People can get PCR tested at pharmacies such as Rite Aid and Walgreens. Over-the-counter COVID-19 antigen tests are also available at pharmacies and on-order from the state Department of Health and federal government.
In the region
Pierce County had confirmed 196,179 total COVID-19 cases with 1,349 deaths as of May 31. Pierce County has a population of about 927,000.
Lewis County has had a total of 18,024 confirmed cases with 255 deaths as of Sunday, state data shows. Lewis County has a population of almost 83,000.
Grays Harbor County had seen a total of 17,323 cases with 198 deaths as of Sunday, according to state data. Grays Harbor County has a population of about 75,000.
Mason County has reported 12,000 confirmed cases with 141 deaths as of Tuesday. Mason County has a population of about 69,000.
In the nation, state and world
The state of Washington has confirmed over 1.57 million COVID-19 cases and 12,836 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
In the U.S., about 84.1 million COVID-19 cases had been reported as of Tuesday with over 1 million deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The U.S. population is about 330 million.
Globally, more than 529.8 million people had contracted the virus and over 6.2 million people had died of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, the data show.
