Grant County reports 6th death from COVID-19
MOSES LAKE/OTHELLO — A sixth person in Grant County has died from COVID-19-related issues. The patient was a Moses Lake man in his 90s, according to a statement from Grant County Health District. The patient was not associated with a long-term care facility.
Between Monday, June 22, and Monday, June 29, confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Grant County jumped from 471 cases to 577 cases. Moses Lake has the most cases with 167 confirmed cases, up from 140 last week. The Quincy area is second with 152 cases, up 37 cases from last Monday. Mattawa has the third highest number of cases with 139 cases, up from 124 last week.
Royal City added 14 new cases last week with a total of 44 cases. Ephrata now has 38 confirmed cases, up from 29 last Monday. Soap Lake only added one new case, bringing the total to 15. Warden added two new cases for 11 total cases. The rural part of Grant County south of Warden has eight cases, up from five last week. The Grand Coulee/Electric City area also added a case this week, bringing the total to three.
Currently, 14 people are hospitalized for COVID-19. Six deaths have been reported. The number of recovered patients is currently unknown.
Of those confirmed cases of COVID-19, 301 are male and 276 are female. Eighty-five are in the newborn to 18-year-old range. In the 19- to 40-year-old range, there are 250 cases. Of those 41 to 60 years old, 165 confirmed cases have been reported. There are 69 cases in those 61 to 80 years old. There are eight patients that are 80 years old or older.
Adams County had 25 new cases of COVID-19 this week, bringing the total to 136 cases. So far 981 tests have been sent out. Of those, 821 have been negative. Ten tests are pending. Currently, one person is hospitalized. Of those confirmed cases with COVID-19, 103 have recovered.
As of Monday, June 29, Othello has 126 confirmed COVID-19 cases, up from 102 cases last Monday, June 22. Ritzville added another case, bringing the total to five cases. Lind stayed steady with three cases and Washtucna and Hatton each have only had one confirmed case.
As the number of cases in Grant County continues to skyrocket, county Health Officer Dr. Alexander Brzezny said the surge is largely not explained by a recent increase in overall testing. Brzezny made the statement during a Thursday, June 25 news briefing.
The overall rate of all tests that returned as positive for the virus had declined from around 13.5 percent in late March to around 7.5 percent in mid-May, according to data from the Grant County Health District. But in recent weeks, Brzezny noted, that rate was closer to 20 percent, 10 times higher than the state’s recommendations for counties to continue reopening their economies. Brzezny also pointed to the speed at which the overall positive cases has increased, with it taking 86 days for the first 200 cases to be reported and only around 26 days for the next 200.
“We certainly haven’t increased the number of tests threefold in the span of those days,” Brzezny added. “That rate as of June 6 was 46, as of June 15 it was 102, as of June 19, 162, and as of yesterday, 252. We are now 10 times the state metric, and, again, our testing did not increase tenfold.”
Brzezny also reiterated a call for individuals to wear face coverings while in public to slow the spread of the virus, claiming that current trends would keep the county from reopening its economy any further. He pointed to one of several criteria to reopen, which recommends that a county have no more than 25 new cases per 100,000 people in a two-week period.
Emry Dinman contributed to this report.
Rachal Pinkerton may be reached via email at rpinkerton@suntribunenews.com.