County COVID-19 numbers slightly up

While the past six months have generally shown a slow decline in the COVID-19 incidence rate, according to Grant County Health District data, the past week has shown another rise, from 168 infected people on March 15 to 215 on March 22.

“I don’t think it’s terrible, but I do think we are teetering on the edge of creeping back up,” Grant County Health District public information officer Misty Aguilar said. “And we haven’t seen spring break numbers.”

With spring break, it’s likely the number of new cases in Grant County will continue to rise, she said.

Adams County incidence rate numbers are quite a bit smaller, according to county data, but follow similar recent trends as Grant County. Overall, infected people have declined since November, but have spiked from 70 on March 17 to 99 on March 22.

In late March 2020, Grant County had 33 cases, according to Health District data. March 25, 2021, marks the one-year anniversary of the governor’s state-wide “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order, originally set to last until April 6, 2020.

Comparing the data regionally and with past months finds numbers better and worse than some. For this reason, the health district remains cautious, Aguilar said.

“We don’t want to say, ‘Yeah, we’re good.’ We want people to stay vigilant, keep wearing their mask, continue to get vaccinated. If you’re able to get vaccinated, please do it,” she said.

Early eligibility expansions and continued efforts will change what March will look like next year, Aguilar said.

“It’s like a recipe,” she said. “We need the vaccine, we need volunteers, and we need the people to vaccinate. Those are the things we need to move forward.”