Fewer new COVID-19 cases found

MOSES LAKE/OTHELLO — The rate of increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Grant and Adams counties slowed in the past week.

Grant County’s total was 143 as of Monday, April 20. The number of cases is up only 21 from April 13, compared to the two weeks prior when 32 and 33 cases were reported.

Since Monday, April 13, only one additional case of COVID-19 was reported in Royal City. Warden held steady with four cases. Mattawa got an additional nine confirmed cases, bringing its total up to 35 confirmed cases.

Around the county, Quincy’s number of cases rose by only two during the past week, bringing the total to 49. Ephrata added one new case for 13 in all. Moses Lake had the biggest jump in cases, next to Mattawa, going from 22 to 30 confirmed cases. Soap Lake held steady with four cases.

The number of pending tests in Grant County is down to 122. There are 27 probable cases. The number of negative tests in the county jumped from 1,026 on April 13, to 1,260 on April 20.

As of Monday evening, eight people are hospitalized with the virus in Grant County. Fifty-two people with confirmed cases have recovered. There are still only two COVID-19 reported deaths in the county.

Of confirmed cases in the county, 53 are male and 90 are female. The most cases are in the 19- to 40-year-old range with 54 cases. The 41- to 60-year-old age group has the second most cases with 50 cases. The 61- to 80-year-old age group has 28 confirmed cases. The 18-year-old and younger age group has 10 cases. The 80 and older group only has one case.

Of note this past week, Monday, April 20 was the first day since March that no new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Grant County.

Also, a third Samaritan Healthcare employee has tested positive for COVID-19. Gretchen Youngren, executive director of development and communication at Samaritan, said in a statement on April 14 that it is believed that the employee contracted the virus through community exposure. Samaritan officials believe there is no identifiable patient risk.

In Adams County, only two new cases were reported in the past week. Last Monday, April 13, 40 confirmed cases were reported. The next day, one of the cases was removed from the count as it belonged to a different county. The total count for this week is 41 confirmed cases with 20 probable cases. Wednesday, April 15, and Saturday, April 18, were the only days that cases were reported.

So far, 255 tests have been submitted. Of those, 191 tests have come back negative. Ten tests are pending. So far, 31 individuals who were confirmed cases have recovered.

Othello has had 37 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Twenty-seven individuals are now listed as recovered. The two cases in Lind and two cases in Ritzville are all listed as recovered.

Charles Featherstone and Emry Dinman contributed to this report.

Rachal Pinkerton may be reached via email at [email protected].