Grays Harbor County COVID-19 cases grew by 17 Friday and 51 for the week, according to Grays Harbor Public Health. That puts the county’s total for the pandemic so far at 278.
Four additional positive cases of COVID-19 were reported in Pacific County Thursday, bringing the total to 64.
The weekly Grays Harbor County numbers include 20 cases reported Monday, zero Tuesday, three Wednesday, 11 Thursday and Friday’s 17 for 51 cases for the week. So far 155 cases have been attributed to August, more than doubling the 68 in July, and 11 cases are listed as unknown as far as what month the case will be attached.
Deaths stand at six, 2.4% of the total positive tests reported, according to the state Department of Health.
There are now 155 active contact investigations, bringing the total number of investigations to 661. Public Health listed 21 new contacts as of Friday. State Department of Health data as of Wednesday listed 23 hospitalizations since the pandemic started. A total of 6,708 Grays Harbor residents have been tested, according to the Department of Health.
Ratio of cases high for Hispanics
Tracked by ethnicity, 31 percent of the cases in Grays Harbor are attributed to Hispanic people. The most recent Census data indicates Hispanics and Latinos make up 10 percent of the county’s population.
Whites account for 158 cases, nine are American Indian, seven “unknown,” six Asian, six bi-racial, four Black and one Pacific Islander. Slightly more males, 140, have tested positive than females, 135, with three listed as unknown. The majority of cases are in those in the 20-39-year-old age group, followed by the 40-59 and 60-79 age groups.
By zip code, the Aberdeen 98520 total confirmed case total has grown from 80 a week ago to 105 Friday. Cases in Hoquiam’s 98550 went up seven to 38. Cases in Westport and Ocean Shores held steady at 18 and 15 respectively, and the Montesano and Elma zip codes went up by a few cases each during the week.
Pacific County
There are currently six active cases being monitored by Pacific County public health nurses, four confirmed and two probable cases.
All four confirmed cases are connected, according to Pacific County Public Health. One case is between 10-20 years old, another case is between 20-30 years old, and two cases are between 40-50 years old. Case investigation and contract tracing are ongoing.
A weekly update provided by Pacific County Emergency Management Director Scott McDougall Wednesday, the day before the four new cases were confirmed, showed eight hospitalizations since the pandemic started, the same number as the previous week. Before the four cases Thursday, the county had gone a week with no confirmed cases.
The number of COVID tests performed in Pacific County as of Sept. 2 was 3,162, up 240 from the previous week’s update. Of those 3,162 tests, 2,047 were given to residents of the county. According to the state Department of Health coronavirus dashboard updated late Wednesday, that number had risen to 2,070.
McDougall explained the split in test numbers, saying the state has nailed down the number of tests given in the county versus the number actually taken by Pacific County residents.
“I think the reason for the discrepancy is places like Willapa Harbor Hospital, that has weekday drive-up testing,” said McDougall. A large number of asymptomatic people travel quite some distance to take advantage of the testing, he said, contributing to the difference between the number of tests for residents against total tests performed in the county.
So far 2.9% of the total tests have come back positive. The death total attributed to COVID-19 stands at three, 5% of the total positive tests among county residents.
Broken down by zip code as of Wednesday, the Raymond (98577) zip code had the majority of cases, 16-20. Long Beach (98631) had 11-15. The Ilwaco and Ocean Park zip codes had 6-10 cases, and the remainder of the county’s zip codes reported 0-5 cases.
McDougall provided data from surrounding counties, including Wahkiakum with six cases, Clatsop County Oregon with 96 cases, Grays Harbor with 243 cases and Lewis with 344.
