Coronavirus: 63 confirmed cases, seven hospitalized

GRANT COUNTY - There are 63 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Grant County as of Monday evening, with two new cases in Ephrata and one new case each in Quincy and Warden, according to the Grant County Health District.

Of those 63 cases, seven are currently hospitalized, including two that have been hospitalized within the last week, according to the health district. There are also 31 “probable” cases, which includes people with symptoms of the virus who have had close contact with a person known to have been sickened with COVID-19.

Mattawa and Moses Lake now each have nine confirmed cases, while Ephrata is reporting seven confirmed cases. Royal City and Warden each have two cases, and Soap Lake had one as of Monday.

In addition to tests that have come back positive, 399 have come back negative meaning just over 13.6 percent of tests have come back positive, almost double the statewide average of 7.5 percent reported by the state Department of Health.

There are an estimated 233 tests that are still pending results, according to the health district. However, hospitals have reported that this estimate is an undercount. For instance, Moses Lake-based Samaritan Healthcare alone reported it had submitted 345 tests as of Monday morning, including 22 positive, 215 negative and 108 pending results.

As of Sunday, 57 percent of those who have tested positive in Grant County are women, and over 77 percent are 60 years old or younger.

The Grant County Health District will be working to identify and call close contacts of those who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to a statement on their website.

“We have contacted over a thousand people during our investigations so far,” the health district wrote in its daily update Sunday. “This includes people who were either identified as close contacts to confirmed cases, people who were tested for COVID-19 and those who tested positive.”

‘Many of our cases have been linked to others, but many of them have not been linked, which means we don’t know how or where they were infected,” the health district added. “This is why we are asking people to please do whatever you would do if you knew someone with COVID-19 was in the public places you are, because it is out there.”