The Grays Harbor County COVID-19 rate grew by 31 Wednesday and Thursday to 184, Grays Harbor Public Health reported Friday.
There were 16 news cases reported Friday, after 15 reported Thursday. The new case count Wednesday was three. Since Sunday, Aug. 16, there have been 48 positive COVID-19 tests reported in the county.
Public Health is now reporting five COVID-19-related deaths in the county, one in July and four in August, two of those reported Wednesday. No further details about the most recent deaths have been released by Public Health.
There are 56 active cases as of Friday, with six new contacts identified. Active cases are those those still under isolation or quarantine. Public Health said cases with improved symptoms are no longer active 10 days after their first symptoms began, or from their test date if they did not develop symptoms.
Contacts who do not develop symptoms are no longer active 14 days after their last exposure to a person confirmed to have a COVID-19 infection.
The 56 active cases are still under investigation. There have been 483 total contact investigations to date.
Of the total cases so far, the majority, 71, were reported in the 20-39-year-old age group, followed by 43 in the 40-59-year age range, 27 age 60-79 years, 17 in ages 1-19, and 10 in those aged 80 and older.
Confirmed cases include 87 females and 81 males.
In cases by race, there have been 123 among whites, 27 among Hispanics, six American Indian/Alaska Native, four Asian, four bi-racial, three black, and one Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. The county update by zip code map had not been updated by press time.
According to state Department of Health data, which Friday still had the case count at 165 and death count at 3, there are 18 current hospitalizations in Grays Harbor County.
Westport testing
Friday, Grays Harbor Public Health conducted “two mass COVID-19 testing operations in Westport.” Tests were conducted at the Alaskan Hotel and Washington Crab parking lot.
“These tests are closed to the public and are for continual surveillance as part of COVID-19 outbreak investigations,” said Public Health on its Facebook page Thursday. Calls to Public Health for more details about this mass testing effort were not immediately returned Friday.
Pacific County
There were a total of 58 COVID-19 cases in Pacific County as of Aug. 19, an increase of three cases from the previous week’s total of 55.
This is a sharp drop in the weekly number; the week of Aug. 5-12 saw an increase of a dozen cases.
For the week of Aug. 13-19, there were three active cases in the county being monitored by Public Health staff, and eight hospitalizations. Of the 58 cases, 54 were confirmed to be current residents of the county. According to Wednesday’s numbers, there are 55 closed cases in the county.
One previous case was removed, according to Pacific County Emergency Management Director Scott McDougall: “The individual being removed is incarcerated in a correctional facility and has not been in Pacific County during their illness.”
The county is still reporting two deaths related to the virus, with one case still pending further investigation. As of Friday the county had eight hospitalizations related to the virus.
