For a month now, new COVID cases and hospitalizations have continued to drop in Yakima County, according to the Yakima Health District.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week dropped the COVID-19 community level for Yakima County to “low” after more than a month at “medium.” The rating is based on new COVID-19 cases, hospital beds used by patients with COVID and hospital admissions for people with the disease.
At a “low” rating, CDC recommends avoiding contact with others who may have COVID-19. People with symptoms, those who test positive or those exposed to COVID-19 should wear a mask.
For the week ending Aug. 19, the health district reported 402 new cases of COVID-19 in the county. This is almost half the number of cases reported during the last week of July, which saw 748 reported cases.
Other measurements like the rate of infection per 100,000 people in the last 14 days also dropped from 579 in late July to 386 on Aug. 19.
The number of hospitalizations due to COVID has also continue to drop, with the health district reporting 10 individuals hospitalized. This is down five cases from the week before, and down 12 cases since the beginning of the month.
The only number that rose was new deaths due to COVID. The Health District reported nine new deaths since Aug. 12. The health district could not be immediately reached to provide more information about the number, though it has reported deaths in batches in the past.
YHD recommends visiting www.YakimaVaccines.org or www.YakimaVacunas.org for vaccine locations and availability.
Anyone 6 months or older is eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Individuals 5 and older are eligible for booster shots.
UW Medicine and Yakima Valley Memorial have partnered to move the community COVID-19 testing site to a new location, at 1211 N. 16th Ave., the former Orthopedics Northwest Clinic site. The testing site had been at Yakima Valley College. It will operate 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. More information can be found on www.YakimaTesting.org or www.YakimaPruebas.org.
Residents of Yakima County can order free rapid tests to be delivered to their door from the federal government by visiting COVID.gov/tests or calling 1-800-232-0233. Washington state offers free tests at its sayyescovidhomestest.org website.
People who test positive for COVID-19 are advised to stay home and away from other people while they are contagious. People who used an at-home test can report positive results to Washington’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-800-525-0127.
If households need additional resources, they can call Care Connect Washington at 1-800-525-0127. Care Connect Washington can provide food and other necessities to people
