Spokane County reported nine more confirmed Covid cases on Monday, pushing the total to 842.
Health Officer Bob Lutz attributed part of that today [Monday] to more testing. He says providers around the county have tested about 6,000 people in the three weeks since Memorial Day, compared to about 4,000 in the preceding three weeks.
Lutz says there’s one new trend.
“Whereas early on we were seeing many more individuals who were older being affected and being impacted, right now, about 300 of our cases have occurred in the 20-to-39-year age group," Lutz said.
He says 63% of Spokane County’s reported cases are in people younger than 50, whereas all of the 37 people who have passed from the coronavirus are 50 or older.
Back to testing, Lutz says many of the private health care providers are not testing people with no symptoms.
“If you are concerned and really wanting to be tested and you may not have any of the criteria, based upon symptoms or contact, then I would encourage you to consider contacting CHAS [Community Health Association of Spokane], finding out when and where you could get tested and maybe check in with them," he said.
During his Monday media briefing Lutz addressed the subject of large social justice protests in Riverfront Park and whether they’ve led to people contracting the virus. Not yet, he said. He says he’s happy that most of the people who attend the protests seem to wear masks and practice distancing from others.