Craig Sailor: COVID-19 precautions could be contributing to a much-reduced rate of this seasonal illness
News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash. 1/30/2021 Craig Sailor, The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.)
Jan. 30 Influenza infections are at an unusually low level in Pierce County, and Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department director Dr. Anthony Chen thinks it s a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Specifically, what people are doing to avoid getting infected with the coronavirus is helping them avoid the flu virus: mask wearing, social distancing, hand washing and adhering to the various workplace, social and education shutdowns and restrictions. I think what it s telling us is that these precautions that were taken for COVID work to prevent viral infections, Chen said Thursday.
Jan. 27 The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department reported 212 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. Four additional deaths were reported. The county's totals are now 32,158 cases and 390 deaths since the first confirmed case was reported in March. The latest deaths involved: A Tacoma woman in her 90s. A Tacoma man in his 90s. A Lakewood woman in her 40s. A Lakewood man in his 70s. The health .
Mobile COVID-19 vaccination teams visit the most vulnerable people
Cities and counties are building strike teams to go out and vaccinate people who cannot get to clinics and drive-through sites on their own. Author: Ted Land Updated: 7:42 AM PST January 27, 2021
SEATTLE Cities and counties in western Washington are staffing up strike teams to go out and vaccinate people for COVID-19 who cannot get to clinics and drive-through sites on their own.
The Columbia Place senior home in Seattle s Rainier Valley neighborhood houses some of the city s most vulnerable residents.
On Tuesday, Seattle Fire Department teams vaccinated more than 80 people at Columbia Place and another location.
Jan. 24 The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has confirmed the first case of a variant of COVID-19 in the county, according to a Sunday news release. The health department had "already completed case and contact investigation for this positive case," the release says, and the individual "had mild symptoms and completed their isolation period." The individual had the B.1.1.7 variant, the .