Spokane County today [Monday] reported the highest one-day total of new Covid cases: 79, pushing the overall total to 1,302.
The number of people hospitalized is 37, 18 of those Spokane County residents.
While the hospitalization number has been inching up, Health Officer Bob Lutz says Spokane’s situation is not like that in cities where the hospitals are overwhelmed, such as Houston.
“If we see a significant increase in cases that require hospitalization, that is going to require them to do things differently. They would have to reallocate floors, potentially, reallocate staff to care for those individuals. Somebody who’s hospitalized with Covid-19 is not the same as hospitalizing someone for pneumonia," he said.
Lutz says the hospitals planned for an initial surge. When it didn’t materialize, they began to retool to handle less emergent and elective cases.
The county has reported two more deaths from the coronavirus; that’s now at 39.