Coronavirus In Pierce County: Week In Review

TACOMA, WA — Over the past few weeks, Washington state has made significant progress in containing the pandemic, and Pierce County may be one of the driving causes behind that continued improvement.

According to the latest update from the White House's COVID-19 Team, Washington saw a 19 percent decrease in new COVID-19 cases over the week before, plus a 23 percent decline in new COVID-19 hospitalizations.

And though Pierce County at first lagged behind much of the state, it has recently started catching up. According to the latest update from the Tacoma- Pierce County Health Department, the county has a rate of 218.2 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over 14 days. That's an improvement over last week, when the rate was just slightly below 268 cases, and a significant change from December when the county's case rate peaked at 550.

While that is a startling improvement, it's still a very high case rate: during the first 6 months of the pandemic any rate above 100 was considered "high" by state standards. As a result, health officials continue to urge residents to use caution and follow COVID-19 safety guidelines and regulations.

Still, any improvement is good news, and it's not the only improvement the county has made.

Under the governor's Healthy Washington plan, each region is judged by four metrics: the trend in case rate, the trend in hospital admission rates, ICU occupancy, and test positivity - and Pierce County and the Puget Sound region continue to succeed. By the state's count, the region has seen a 41 percent dip in case rate, a 14 percent decline in hospital admissions for COVID-19 like illnesses, and has an ICU occupancy of 85 percent (the goal is to have under 90 percent occupancy).

Meanwhile, despite last weekend's weather delaying vaccine shipments, the vaccine rollout continues. Washington state now averages more than 25,000 vaccination doses given each day. Pierce County represents more than 1 in 10 of those vaccines: of the total 1,270,425 vaccine doses given in Washington, 135,234 happened in Pierce County.

As of the latest update from the Tacoma - Pierce County Health Department, the county has had a total of 35,369 COVID-19 cases and 442 deaths since the pandemic began last spring.

Catch up on the latest developments:

Inslee signs $2.2B COVID-19 relief bill

Friday Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill authorizing the expenditure of $2.2 billion in federal funding to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This process of getting to a post-pandemic era has just begun," Inslee said. "We intend to come out of this pandemic stronger, in part because of this legislation."

The bill, which took effect immediately upon receiving Inslee's signature, directs millions in federal funding to Washington schools, the public health response, emergency eviction rental and utility assistance programs, and business assistance grants, among others.

Read more: Inslee Signs $2.2B Emergency COVID-19 Relief Bill

COVID-19 may leave lingering effects, even in mild cases

A new study from the University of Washington has found that COVID-19 may cause health effects that linger for several months, even in patients with mild or no symptoms.

The study, which monitored 300 Seattle-area COVID-19 patients for up to 9 months, discovered that 30 percent had worse health and quality of life during that time. 8 percent had even more serious issues, reporting that they were unable to do simple chores, lift heavy objects or walk for an extended period.

Read more: Even Mild Coronavirus Illnesses Can Have Lasting Effects: Study

Volunteers launch vaccine finding website

A group of 70+ volunteers have built a new tool Washingtonians can use to find and schedule a COVID-19 vaccination appointment.

The site is called the WA COVID Vaccine Finder, and it's designed to make finding a shot and setting up an appointment as easy as possible.

While the Washington State Department of Health's vaccine website, FindYourPhaseWA.org, can be useful for determining your vaccine eligibility and signing up for alerts, WA COVID Vaccine Finder goes one step further. It shows where vaccine doses are currently available, where they may be available soon, and gives users direct links to schedule appointments at those clinics. It even lets users search by zip code to try and find vaccination appointments in their area.

Read more: Volunteers Build COVID-19 Vaccine Finder Website

State pushes for schools to return to in-person learning

In an attempt to get more schools reopened for in-person learning, the Washington State Department of Health has announced the massive expansion of a COVID-19 testing program.

Roughly 200,000 students across Washington are already receiving at least some in-person instruction. With the testing program's expansion, more are likely to join them, says Gov. Jay Inslee.

The program began as a testing pilot at 11 Washington school districts. For the pilot, districts identified students and staff who may have been exposed to COVID-19, then had them tested for the coronavirus. If the test came back positive, the student or staff member was instructed to enter isolation, and their close contacts were notified to prevent any potential outbreaks.

Organizers say the program was a success, so they're bringing it to 48 more school districts. Those districts will begin the testing program by the end of the month.

Read more: WA Expands School Testing To Promote Return To In-Person Classes

Total coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Pierce County:

The above numbers are provided by the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, and some numbers differ from the totals provided separately by the Washington State Department of Health.