Counts for COVID-19 continue

MOSES LAKE — The count of COVID-19 cases in the area continues, although the figures can differ depending where and when one looks.

The state Department of Health’s COVID-19 Dashboard on Wednesday said case counts and hospitalizations were incomplete and total case counts Wednesday could include up to 340 duplicates, and “negative test results, testing rate and percent positive metrics displayed on the Testing tab” were incomplete from Aug. 24 through Wednesday. However, the Epidemiological Curves tab was “the most accurate representation of COVID activity and is updated daily as new cases are identified.”

On Sept. 1, the site had a similar message and said it was “due to an interruption in DOH data systems.”

However, as of Tuesday, there were 364 COVID-19 cases in Grant County in the previous seven days and 940 in the previous 14, according to the DOH. The seven-day hospitalization rate was 30 and the death rate was zero.

Meanwhile, Samaritan Hospital’s website on Tuesday listed 20 COVID-19 patients, two of whom were vaccinated. Eleven of those were in the intensive care unit and nine were in the medical surgical unit. The age range was 25 to 83. The hospital has 12 ICU beds and is licensed to house 50 patients, but has a surge plan to accommodate 200 patients at once, officials have said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker on Tuesday listed 561 cases in the previous seven days in Grant County. That was 574 cases per 100,000 people and about a 7% increase. As of Monday, it listed eight new hospital admissions in the previous seven days, which was about a 38% decrease. It also said there were about 40% ICU beds used in the previous week, which was a 12% decrease.

In Adams County, the DOH said there were about 259 cases in the previous week as of Tuesday and about 734 in the previous 14 days. It also said there were five hospitalizations and no deaths in the previous week.

The CDC reported 107 cases in Adams County in the previous seven days as of Tuesday, which was 535 cases per 100,000 people and a 39% increase. It also said there were two new hospital admissions in the previous week as of Monday, which was about a 33% decrease. There was no information available on ICU beds.

Both counties have “high” COVID-19 transmission rates, according to the CDC, as they have had 100 or more new cases per 100,000 residents in the previous seven days.

Getting immunized against COVID-19 continues to be touted as the best form of prevention from the disease; however, some recent studies have shown natural immune protection after a COVID-19 infection gives a person a better chance of fighting the virus.

Science Magazine on Aug. 26 reported on a large Israeli study including two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and people who had natural immunity from getting the virus. While scientists maintained vaccines were still protective against severe disease and death and intentional infection was risky, data showed people who had COVID-19 were less likely than never infected, vaccinated people to get the delta variant.

Researchers also discovered those who were infected and had one dose of the vaccine were more protected against reinfection than people who only had the virus. Some countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Israel, only give one vaccine to those who have had COVID-19, the article stated.

To view the preprint study, visit https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.24.21262415v1.