The number of long-term care centers reporting COVID-19 activity in Washington has steadily increased since June, and 11 centers in Spokane County now have cases on staff or residents.
Royal Park Health and Rehabilitation in the Nevada Heights neighborhood has 32 positive cases among residents and staff members, confirmed Kelli Hawkins, public information officer in the Spokane Regional Health District. These numbers reflect cases registered since July 15, he said.
Data from the Department of Health and Social Services shows that 242 long-term care facilities, including adult family homes, statewide have at least one positive case of COVID-19.
The Grant County Health District announced two outbreaks Tuesday at the Moses Lake long-term care facility, representing 34 cases but no hospitalizations among residents and staff.
While the cases have been confirmed at facilities in Spokane County during the pandemic, Hawkins said such outbreaks generally result in an average of five to six people testing positive, if the facility can control an outbreak before it spreads. .
The health district considers a long-term facility with two cases to have an outbreak.
“Our long-term care facilities are doing a great job and striving to keep all health measures in place,” he said.
The health district helps facilities that need personal protective equipment and can provide a rapid response “removal team” and infection prevention specialists who can help facilities quarantine residents and protect the virus to prevent it from spreading among often highly vulnerable populations. .
COVID-19 can cause severe symptoms in people over the age of 65 and people with underlying health conditions.
As of July 21, 171 cases of COVID-19 and 23 deaths were associated with long-term care facilities in Spokane County, according to state data.
The Spokane Regional Health District confirmed five new COVID-19 deaths in county residents Tuesday, totaling 52.
The health district also confirmed 83 new cases Tuesday, totaling 3,507.
Hospitalizations are also on the rise. Sixty-three patients are being treated for COVID-19 at Spokane hospitals, and 41 of them are county residents.
While people in their 20s continue to drive local case counts, that trend has spread to other age groups, and those in their 30s and 40s are now disproportionately represented in Spokane County cases.
COVID-19 cases and deaths also continue to increase in northern Idaho.
The Panhandle Health District reported 49 new cases Tuesday, totaling 1,625, and two more deaths, totaling eight, in the five-county region it covers. Thirty-two northern Idaho residents are hospitalized with the virus.
As in Spokane County, the Panhandle Health District has been responding to COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities for months, providing guidance and PPE to centers that need it.
The Panhandle Health District may also conduct tests on behalf of the facilities, although Katherine Hoyer, the district’s public information officer, said it is rare. If facilities can do their own testing, they are encouraged to do so, while staff members are encouraged to go to community testing sites if they have been exposed.
Ivy Court, an 85-bed skilled nursing and rehabilitation center in Coeur d’Alene, confirmed COVID-19 activity on the premises and conducted site-wide testing of residents and staff on July 9.
However, facility leaders declined to give an exact number of cases, citing constantly changing test results. Instead, they referred The Spokesman-Review to the reported data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, which are expected to be available Friday.
