On Thursday afternoon, Lewis County reported its 18th confirmed COVID-19 case, and after nearly a month of testing, public health officials said this week they are starting to glean “useful data” from local testing efforts.
“We don’t know how many Lewis County residents have contracted COVID-19,” said John Abplanalp, deputy director and epidemiologist at Lewis County Public Health and Social Services. “However, from the confirmed positive tests, we can begin to compile useful and actionable data.”
The 18th case is a Lewis County resident in their 80s, LCPHSS released. The 17th, announced Wednesday, is a person in their 70s in Lewis County.
Two residents have died, as of Thursday — patients in their 80s and 90s who had been hospitalized.
On Wednesday, Lewis County released a summary of data collected in testing.
“Data shows that all areas of the county have been touched by COVID-19,” according to the release from LCPHSS. “This includes residents of the Twin Cities, towns in the east, west and south parts of the county, as well as unincorporated, rural areas.”
Lewis County is not giving more specific information about individual patients or where they live, citing medical privacy concerns.
Confirmed cases have been documented in patients ranging from their 20s to their 90s, but more than half of cases have occurred in residents over 60 years old. About 35 percent of confirmed cases locally have required hospitalization. More men than women have tested positive in Lewis County, counter to statewide results.
“Because we only have data on 17 cases in Lewis County versus nearly 8,000 cases statewide, we really don’t know if our gender difference is significant or if it’s meaningfully different from the state’s average,” Abplanalp said in a news release Wednesday.
Statewide, 83,000 people have been tested, with 91 percent testing negative. County by county percentages of positive to negative tests are not available from the state Department of Health, according to LCPSS.
“The disease is circulating,” Abplanalp said. “It’s not tied to any one geographic point or any one person. It’s being passed around throughout the county. That is why the recommended hygiene and social distancing measures remain critical to stopping the disease.”
