After single digit cases reported for most of the week, Grays Harbor County Public Health reported 25 new cases of COVID-19 Friday, and two additional deaths.
One death was attributed to the month of November, the other to October, bringing the county total to 15. No additional information was provided per county public health policy.
Prior to Friday, one case was reported Tuesday, three cases Wednesday, and one case Thursday. The case count total for October stands at 190, while 22 cases have been attributed to November (although 25 cases were reported Friday, some of them may be attributed to a prior month). The highest case number belongs to September, with 263. The total case number for the pandemic since February was at 771 Friday.
Friday, the county reported 42 active cases, those that are still under isolation or quarantine. Cases with improved symptoms are no longer considered active 10 days after their first symptoms began, or from their test date if no symptoms developed. Those who do not develop symptoms are no longer active 14 days after their last exposure to a person confirmed to have COVID-19.
No new contacts were reported Friday. The number of active contact investigations remains unreported on the Public Health website — http://www.healthygh.org/directory/covid19/casecount — with 1,287 total contact investigations in the county.
The latest ethnicity breakdown shows 406 cases among whites, 277 among Hispanics, 29 unknown, 21 among American Indians, 21 bi-racial, nine Asian, five black, two not reporting ethnicity, and one Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander. To date, the split is almost identical along gender lines, 386 male and 385 female.
Most of the cases reported are among those in the 20-79-year-old age category: 259 20-39, 217 40-59, and 121 60-79. Cases in other age groups include 73 11-19, 67 1-10, 36 aged 80-plus, and four less than a year old.
State data
Current state data shows Grays Harbor County with a rate of 145.6 new cases reported the two weeks prior to Nov. 4 per 100,000 population. Remember, there is a lag in reporting between the state and county numbers so some of the data may not match.
By comparison, Pacific County came in at 60.1, Lewis County at 104.4, Thurston County 95.9, Mason County 64.6, and Jefferson County 25.1.
The average daily COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 population the week prior to Nov. 4 was 270.5 in Grays Harbor County, well above neighboring counties. The percent of positive tests over that week was 3.8%. State data shows 16,445 total tests in the county as of Nov. 4. Testing rates in adjacent counties include Pacific at 103, Lewis at 178.5, Thurston at 178.3, Mason at 187.3, and Jefferson at 58.7.
State data shows 49 hospitalizations in the county, and 12 deaths – the county recently added a death from July, another in October and one in November, bringing the total to 15, not yet reflected in the state numbers.
