Coronavirus: Early signs of deceleration

GRANT COUNTY — There were 43 new cases of the coronavirus reported in Grant County on Wednesday, including 16 cases in Royal City, nine in Moses Lake, eight in the Quincy area, four in the Mattawa area, three in Ephrata, two in rural Grant County near Othello and one in Warden according to Grant County Health District.

The rate of new cases being identified has slowly decelerated since a mid-August high, according to the health district. While still relatively high in the state, the county’s rate of infection has dropped by about a quarter in the past two weeks.

State officials reported that 125 locals have been hospitalized since the pandemic began. Nineteen county residents with the coronavirus are currently hospitalized, according to the health district.

The areas of the county with the most cases since the pandemic began are Moses Lake with 703, the Quincy area with 685 and the Mattawa area with 397.