Covid case rates dropping statewide and locally

Cases of COVID-19 have slowed in local towns since last week's update from The Star, following a statewide trend.

The surge of the Delta variant that started last summer peaked in mid-September when four local counties were reporting a combined seven-day case rate of 1,336, state Department of Health data show.

That one-week case rate for Grant, Okanogan, Lincoln and Douglas counties was down to 146 at midnight Monday.

The rate of vaccines shots being given each week has been trending higher since that September peak in cases and stood at about 34,000 doses a week statewide a week ago, under 600 of them in the local counties.

Statewide, 72.2% of those 12 years of age or older are fully vaccinated. In Grant County, 61.6% of those 12 and up are fully vaccinated; in Okanogan County it is 66.2%; in Douglas County, 66.7%; and in Lincoln County, 56.1%.

According to Grant County Health District data last updated Nov. 30, the Grand Coulee and Electric City area of the county has seen 162 total cases since the pandemic began, up by just one in the past week, with the new case reported on Nov. 29.

Ranging in age from their 50s to 80s, nine people are currently hospitalized in Grant County with Covid, down by two since last week.

There have been 185 deaths in Grant County since the pandemic began, with an additional 27 possible Covid deaths waiting to be added to that total pending death certificate reviews.

According to Okanogan County Public Health data updated Nov. 30, Coulee Dam hasn't had any new cases in the past week, with a total of 103 cases in the town since the pandemic began.

Nespelem has also stayed steady in cases in the past week, remaining at 137 total.

Elmer City has seen one more case for a total of 40.

There have been 72 Covid-related deaths verified in Okanogan County.

Okanogan County, with 117 cases reported in the past 14 days, has an incidence rate of 271 cases per 100,000 population as of Nov. 30, while Grant County, as of Nov. 27, has a rate of 269, having had 261 cases since Nov. 16.

Lincoln County, with 19 cases in the past two weeks, has an incidence rate of 173, with 25 total Covid deaths in the county.

Douglas County, with 168 new cases in the past two weeks, has a rate of 384, and has seen 35 total Covid deaths.

In Washington state, there have been 9,303 deaths out of 774,465 total cases according to the Department of Health.