Ephrata woman is eighth confirmed COVID-19 case

EPHRATA - Ephrata now has a confirmed case of coronavirus, the eighth case in the county and the first in that city, according to the Grant County Health District.

The Ephrata case is a woman between the ages of 19 and 40, and has not been hospitalized. She is currently under home isolation, according to the health district.

According to the health district’s website, 52 tests have come back negative since the district started tracking this information, up by four since Wednesday. In addition, the health district is reporting an estimated 68 tests are pending results, up from 61 yesterday.

However, hospitals have reported individually that not all of their pending tests are included in this count due to reporting guidelines and other constraints. Samaritan Hospital, for instance, submitted 16 tests yesterday from its recently opened Respiratory Virus Evaluation Center, according to a spokesperson.

This story will be updated when new information becomes available.

There are also currently two “probable” cases. Probable test results are tests that came up positive at a third-party lab and are pending confirmation at the Washington State Public Health Lab or are pending tests that epi-linked to confirmed cases, according to the health district.

The health district is also reiterating it’s recommendations for public safety to mitigate the spread of the virus.

“For retailers, churches and other places with gatherings of less than 50 people who have not been required to close during this time, you must implement safety measures to reduce the chance of the virus spreading in your facilities, in order to remain operational,” the health district wrote.