Lewis County COVID-19 Case Rate Half of What It Was Last Month

WEEKLY REPORT:  State Health Secretary Says Vaccine Lottery Having an Impact

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Lewis County continued its downward trend of COVID-19 cases this week, reporting 43 new positives.

That’s down from 53 the week prior, and 93 and 122 before then.

Six new hospitalizations were reported and three congregate care outbreaks are still active.

According to state data, the county is seeing a case rate of 218.1 per 100,000 people.

“For context, that’s about half of what it was about a month ago, but also higher than it was at the start of the school year last year,” Public Health Director JP Anderson told county commissioners this week. “So it’s definitely going in a positive direction, it’s trending down, but we still do have a fairly high prevalence of it.”

Still, Anderson said the local health department is preparing to wind down its response efforts as vaccines become increasingly accessible.

The state’s new case rate is less than half of Lewis County’s, landing at 94.4 per 100,000.

Lewis County also continues to lag behind in vaccination rates. The county has not reached 50% in any vaccination metric tracked by the state.



Only 37.7% of total residents have initiated vaccination.

On the state level, health officials say the new “Shot of a Lifetime” vaccine lottery appears to be working to incentivize people to get a dose.

In a media briefing Wednesday morning, state Health Secretary Umair Shah said 87% people who called the state’s vaccine hotline in June were inquiring about the lottery program, which is doling out cash prizes and other goodies.

Shah also said that projections indicate the state may see case rates begin to flatten, instead of continuing to decline.

“And that’s just a reminder that as we are celebrating and commemorating six months (since vaccines have been available) of so many efforts, and our state reopening, we still have people who’ve not been vaccinated. We still have people who are unprotected. And we still have people who are going to be at risk for COVID-19,” Shah said.

State health officials also discussed variants spreading in Washington state, including the growing cases of the Gamma variant.

That variant, according to state epidemiologist Dr. Scott Lindquist, now comprises 24% of all variants seen in the state, and has the highest hospitalization rate of any variants.

“I want, really, people to let us worry about the variants,” Shah said. “And I want people to do their part, which is to get vaccinated to protect themselves and those around them.”