Nine residents die from COVID-19 in Grant County

The Grant County Health District on Tuesday announced nine more people died from COVID-19, bringing the county’s COVID-19 death toll to 134.

Of the nine who died, eight had underlying health conditions and eight were unvaccinated, according to the GCHD.

Those who died were a Royal City man in his 30s, a Moses Lake woman in her 40s, a Moses Lake man in his 50s, an Ephrata man in his 60s, a Moses Lake man in his 60s, three Moses Lake men in their 70s and a Moses Lake man in his 80s.

GCHD said in a release it delays announcing COVID-19 deaths to give families time to notify loved ones. It also verifies COVID-19 is listed as the cause of death on the death certificate to ensure it’s not incorrectly reporting deaths.

“COVID-19 remains in our community and continues to take away from us,” said Dr. Alexander Brzezny, Grant County health officer, in the release. “These deaths are a reminder of how devastating the COVID virus can be. Many who get sick then get better, but some are more severely ill, may remain ill for a while, and may even die. Sometimes it is quite random. Our immunization rates have improved but are still low. I want to stress that the available vaccines currently provide an excellent level of protection for nearly all vaccinated individuals. That protection is good against the new variants of the virus. We need to get vaccinated to decrease the spread of COVID-19, but also to reduce emergency room visits, decrease hospitalizations and prevent needless deaths. I strongly urge you to, please get your vaccine, if you haven’t already.”