FILE PHOTO — Providence medical personnel are on standby inside the command center at Hawks Prairie Clinic in late April in Lacey.
Six more confirmed cases of COVID-19 were identified on Sunday by Thurston County health officials, and two of those cases were tied to a longterm health care facility in Tumwater.
That location was recently identified as Olympics West Retirement Inn.
Public Health Director Schelli Slaughter said Sunday that three more on staff at Olympics West tested positive; however, two of the three live in Thurston County, while the third lives in Mason County and will be included in that county's count.
The county started with one case on Monday, then added three more on Wednesday, one on Friday, then 12 on Saturday, the highest one-day total since March 10. The weekly total of 23 also was the highest since 31 cases were reported the week of March 30.
Thurston County health officials have tested 139 residents and 62 staff at Olympics West, and now 19 people have tested positive, Slaughter said.
The spread of the virus in Tumwater, and potentially at Infinite Care Adult Family Home in Lacey, are linked by an Olympics West staff person who tested positive earlier in the week and works at both facilities, the county announced earlier in the week.
The county still hasn't received the test results for Infinite Care, Slaughter said.
The six cases on Sunday were a woman in her 60s, two women in their 50s, two men in their 50s and a female in her 10s, according to the county health data. The overall total for the county is now 154 cases with one death. Of the total, 130 people have either recovered or are recovering.
Phase 2 concerns
Slaughter told The Olympian on Saturday that if the state were to use the standard at which the county was granted approval, Thurston's "threshold" is 29 new cases over two weeks. If Thurston County hits that number, Slaughter said, it could prompt discussion between the county and state to decide whether the county can stay in Phase 2.
Over the previous two weeks, including Sunday's numbers, Thurston County has had 27 cases.
"We're getting close to that number," said Slaughter on Sunday, adding it will be important to see how this week's count develops.
"I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to adhere to social distancing, hand washing and wearing face coverings," she said.
Also in the region
-- Pierce County added 19 cases on Sunday, increasing its overall total to 1,947 with 73 deaths.
-- Lewis County has 36 cases and three deaths.
-- Mason County also has 36 cases and one death.
-- Grays Harbor County now has 17 cases.
Around the state, nation and world
Washington state is home to more than 21,000 cases and 1,100 deaths, according to the state Department of Health.
In the U.S., more than 1.7 million people have tested positive for the virus and 104,000 have died, Johns Hopkins University data show. Globally, there have been six million cases and 371,000 deaths.
