COVID-19 rates dropping in local counties

COVID-19 rates continue to decline overall as the incidence rate in Grant County has dropped below 100 cases per 100,000 residents and Coulee Medical Center found zero positive results out of 33 tests performed from March 15-19.

Grant County Health District shows that the county's two-week incidence rate continues to decline - to 79 cases per 100,000 people on March 17. That rate was 123 last week and 1,458 about a month earlier on Feb. 11.

That said, two more deaths have been added to the tally in Grant County. The March 17 update from GCHD said one of the deaths occurred back in October of 2021, and the other in February of 2022. The dead were two unvaccinated men from Quincy and Warden in their 40s and 70s who had underlying health conditions.

The Grand Coulee and Electric City area of Grant County shows a total of 293 cases, up by four since March 10.

Okanogan County Public Health last updated their data on March 16 and shows a two-week incidence rate of 359, with 155 cases reported in the previous two weeks. That's up slightly from the week before. OCPH won't be updating their site until the state gets its site updated.

They show Coulee Dam as having a total of 207 cases since the pandemic began, up by seven since March 2; Elmer City with no additional cases since then, with a total of 74; and Nespelem with an increase of three cases, for a total of 248.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every county in Washington as of March 17 is now considered to be at low risk for overwhelming hospitals with covid cases.

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) Tuesday reported a total of 1,446,845 confirmed cases as of 11:59 p.m. on March 20. There have been 12,355 COVID-19 deaths in Washington.