Pierce County coronavirus cases now at 231 with five deaths

Pierce County on Friday reported 45 new confirmed cases and another death in the coronavirus pandemic.

The county now has 231 cases and five deaths out of 4,310 tested by University of Washington virology lab and state public health labs.

The latest death from Lakewood, a man in his 80s with underlying health conditions, follows two also from Lakewood reported Thursday, a man and woman both in their 70s, also with underlying health conditions.

Pierce County’s case numbers from Friday are below, with Thursday’s numbers in parentheses.

▪ Bonney Lake: 6 (5)

▪ Central Pierce County: 11 (7)

▪ East Pierce County: 9 (7)

▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 13 (12)

▪ Frederickson: 7 (6)

▪ Gig Harbor area: 14 (13)

▪ Graham: 6 (5)

▪ JBLM: 3 (no change)

▪ Key Peninsula: 2 (1)

▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 7 (6)

▪ Lakewood: 12 (10)

▪ Parkland: 17 (13)

▪ Puyallup: 16 (14)

▪ South Hill 10 (6)

▪ South Pierce County: 4 (4)

▪ Southwest Pierce County 3 (no change)

▪ Spanaway 8 (5)

▪ Tacoma: 75 (60)

▪ University Place: 8 (6)

On Thursday, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department again changed its reporting methods, adding more cities to the list and redistributing case numbers to different cities as it removed more general county locator descriptions.

As case numbers have grown in the county, the health department has adjusted its reporting style and has added a map to view case locations on its website.

The outbreak of the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19 respiratory disease, has now claimed five lives in the county, including three from Lakewood, one from Puyallup and one from Spanaway.

Underlying medical conditions have been tied to many of the deaths. On Friday, the health department issued a reminder on its blog of what classified as underlying conditions putting patients in the high-risk category:

▪ Heart disease

▪ Diabetes

▪ Lung disease

▪ HIV

▪ Asthma

▪ Pregnancy

▪ Auto-immune disorders

▪ Recent surgery

▪ Cancer treatment

▪ Severe obesity

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