As of July 21, Seattle-King County Public Health reported the following COVID-19 statistics for the county:

• 483,881 total positive cases, including 6,251 over the previous seven days (an average of 893 per day and 276 cases per 100,000 residents during that period).
• 12,929 total hospitalizations, a 26 percent decrease over the previous seven days.
• 2,966 overall deaths, an average of two per day

COVID-19 dashboards are updated Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at www.kingcounty.gov/covid/data

In Pierce County, COVID statistics released July 18 by Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department include:

• A seven-day case rate of 221 cases per 100,000 county residents.
• A seven-day hospitalization rate of 6 patients per 100,000 population.
• 1,566 cases and nine deaths during July 10-16. The deceased ranged in age from their 40s to 90s.

More information is available at tpchd.org/covid19cases. Information on testing for COVID is at tpchd.org/gettested.

Pierce County remains in the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) medium COVID-19 community-risk level. CDC updates its community levels every Thursday afternoon. That means, according to the CDC, that anyone at high risk for severe illness should talk to their healthcare provider about whether to wear a mask and take other precautions, and to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines.