Yakima County COVID-19 case decline continues; 37 new cases on Saturday | Update
Yakima County continues to see a decline in COVID-19 cases, with cases plateauing elsewhere, according to a statewide situation report.
Case numbers have decreased in Yakima, Benton, Franklin and Pierce counties. Clark and King counties are seeing plateaus, while numbers have increased in Grant, Lewis and Walla Walla counties, according to the report issued by the state Department of Health. The Grant County Health District reported its 14th and 15th COVID-19 deaths on Friday.
Outbreaks are occurring at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla County, among off-campus college students in Whitman County and at a hospital in Kitsap County.
State Secretary of Health John Wiesman said a continued plateau is not enough to safely open schools.
“While we see some positive trends in our data, we must continue to think differently about the ways we interact with one another,” he said in a statement. “It remains critical that we limit the size and frequency of our social gatherings, wear face coverings and stay home when we are sick.”
The transmission number is 0.86 in Western Washington and 0.91 in Eastern Washington. The number is a measure of how many new people each COVID-19 patient will infect, and the goal is to have it under one and as close to zero as possible.
Statewide, COVID-19 mortality has been fairly stable the past three weeks, with approximately 10-15 deaths a day. If that continues, the state will have 1,250 to 1,875 additional deaths by the end of 2020, the report said.
“With the roughly 1,870 COVID-19 deaths that have already occurred this year, this will likely make COVID-19 a leading cause of mortality in Washington,” the report said.
The weekly report is issued by the state in partnership with the Institute of Disease Modeling in Bellevue, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the University of Washington and Microsoft.
Local numbers
The Yakima Health District on Saturday reported 37 new cases in Yakima County, making it two straight weeks with fewer than 50 daily cases. That’s much lower than earlier this summer, when the daily count was frequently in the triple digits.
Yakima County’s total since mid-March is 11,634 people who have tested positive. Of those 225 have died, with no new deaths Saturday, while 10,245 are considered to have recovered.
The number of people hospitalized with the virus remained steady Friday at 17, with one person intubated.
While Yakima County remains in modified Phase 1 of the state’s four-step reopening plan, state and local health officials allowed more business activity on Thursday. Indoor restaurant dining with capacity at 25% is now allowed. Churches can have indoor services at 25% capacity or 50 people, whichever is less, along with more people at outdoor services. Fitness classes of five or fewer people can meet outside.
Testing
Community testing sites will continue this week. Yakima Health District said Friday testing recommendations haven’t changed. Anyone with symptoms and anyone who’s come into close contact with someone who has tested positive should be tested.
