Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department announcement.
On May 26 you will see a new look on our COVID-19 data dashboard. You’ll find it easier to locate the data you care most about.
We still have all the data you’ve come to expect over the past few years. We are also highlighting new metrics that are important right now so you can more easily assess your risk.
The dashboard changes should make the webpage load more quickly and easier to navigate on mobile devices. Instead of housing all the numbers on one page, you’ll see a quick glance at the numbers and links to separate dashboards for each metric.
CDC community level indicators.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched its COVID-19 community level tool in March as a helpful way for you to assess local risk.
CDC decides the level based on 3 data points:
- 7-day case rate.
- 7-day hospitalization rate.
- Available hospital beds.
You’ll see a note at the top of the main dashboard with Pierce County’s level.
To help align our numbers with CDC, we also now highlight the 7-day case rate on our dashboard instead of the 14-day rate. For CDC to list Pierce County in low level, our 7-day case rate needs to be below 200 cases per 100,000 people. As of Wednesday, we are at 243.1 per 100,000. When our case rate is more than 200, CDC lists us as either medium or high depending on the hospital numbers.
As more people test from home, the hospitalization rate may be the best indication of where we are. You can easily find the 7-day case and hospitalization rates on the main dashboard. We update those numbers Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays to give you the most current info.
Are you up to date on vaccination?
Since COVID-19 vaccine first arrived in Pierce County, we’ve tracked uptake to better understand our overall protection. As the pandemic has progressed, so has our understanding of protection.
Prior infection provides some protection. Getting your primary series of vaccine also provides protection. But we now know immunity can wane over time. That’s why everyone 5 and older should get a booster dose.
Staying up to date with vaccinations by getting a booster helps limit the spread of COVID-19 and lessens the severity of the illness if you get it.
To better reflect our goal of getting everyone who is eligible up to date on vaccinations, we now highlight that number on our main data page. You’re considered up to date once you’ve had your primary series of doses until you are eligible for a booster. After that, you need a booster to stay up to date. You’ll notice this number is a lot lower than those who have completed their primary series. We have work to do!
Our dashboard still lists the percentage of folks who initiated vaccination and those who completed their primary series. You can compare those numbers to where we were earlier in the pandemic.
More mobile friendly.
We’ve heard from many of you that our dashboard takes too long to long to load and doesn’t work well on your phone.
On the main dashboard you’ll now see our:
- Current CDC COVID-19 community level.
- 7-day case rate.
- 7-day hospitalization rate.
- 7-day death rate.
- Percentage of people up to date on vaccination.
If that’s all you’re looking for, great! The page should load quickly and give you the info you need.
If you want to dive deeper, you’ll see a list of links under the main dashboard. Use those to visit separate dashboards with more info on:
- Pierce County cases.
- State numbers.
- Case demographics.
- Cases by census tract.
- Outbreaks.
- Vaccination data.
- Vaccine demographics.
- Vaccinations by census tract.
We know how important this data is to you. We hope you like these changes and we want to hear your feedback. Email us at communications@tpchd.org.
Continue safe healthy practices.
Our latest data makes it clear COVID-19 case and hospitalization rates are increasing again in Pierce County.
The pandemic has been hard on all of us, especially those most vulnerable. We must continue to make safe and healthy decisions.
- Get vaccinated and boosted!
- If you are sick, stay home.
- Wash your hands regularly.
- Get tested if you have symptoms or have been exposed.
- If you test positive, see if our Test to Treat program is right for you.
- Consider wearing a mask in crowded public spaces.
Stay up to date on our latest information when you sign up for the Your Reliable Source blog.
