Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department press release.
New case and outbreak data show that as we gather to celebrate the holidays it is more important than ever to use safe practices to help slow the spread of COVID-19. DOH reports the fast spreading Omicron variant is most likely the dominant strain in WA state. We expect the number of cases to increase in the new year.
We received updated COVID-19 case information we didn’t have for Tuesday’s case report. As expected, Pierce County cases increased rapidly in the last weeks of December, growing more than 230%. From Nov. 28-Dec. 4 we had 1,477 cases. From Dec. 19-25 we had 4,914 cases. This data is preliminary and likely an underestimate because of reporting lags.
We’re also seeing more COVID-19 outbreaks. Cases related to outbreaks grew from 413 cases to 612 cases this week. We added 6 new facilities to our list, 4 of them at long term care facilities. Sports-related outbreaks caused a jump in school cases from 126 last week to 176.
The latest state report shows vaccinated people are less likely to catch and spread COVID-19, and much less likely to be hospitalized or die if they are infected. First, second and booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine are easy to get and always free. Find your dose on our vaccine event calendar. tpchd.org/vaxtothefuture.
Business outbreaks were higher this week.
- 97 businesses reported outbreaks totaling 612 cases, a 29% increase from last week.
- Six new facilities were added with larger outbreaks (greater than 10 active cases) from last week.
- The number of school outbreaks increased to 25, with 176 related cases.
- This increased from the 22 outbreaks we reported last week.
Learn about outbreak definitions and find more data in the Outbreaks section at tpchd.org/covid19cases.
Find more information on:
- Case counts, hospitalizations, vaccination and other metrics.
- COVID-19 vaccines.
- Getting a COVID-19 test.
- Childcare and schools.
