MOSES LAKE — The COVID-19 outbreak that sickened 47 people and claimed at least two lives at a local long-term care facility is over, according to Grant County Health District Communication Coordinator Lexi Smith. The facility, which was not identified, has gone 14 days without an additional case, Smith wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. A third death was not immediately attributed to COVID-19 but was under investigation.

“Long-term care facilities … house at-risk individuals, and that makes them an area where COVID can circulate in dining rooms and community areas,” Smith said in an interview Thursday.

This is the eighth outbreak in a long-term care facility since October 2024, Smith wrote. By comparison, the period from October 2023 to October 2024 saw 19 outbreaks in care facilities and one in a school.

When an outbreak occurs, Smith said, the facility will take immediate precautions to contain it.

“The long-term care facility worked closely with our staff at Grand County Health District to ensure they were taking enhanced infection control measures,” Smith said. “They’ve been modifying their dining experiences, isolating cases, testing their staff. They’re certainly doing what it takes to mitigate the outbreak.”

A facility experiencing an outbreak notifies family members and other responsible persons, Smith said, and also puts a sign at the front of the facility warning visitors that there’s been an outbreak, Smith added.

COVID-19 outbreaks aren’t uncommon at this time of year, Smith said.

“It’s unfortunately becoming a pretty annual occurrence of having a summer wave of COVID-19,” Smith said. “It’s believed because in the summertime people are going to concerts and festivals and festivals and community events and they’re spending more time out and doing things with other people that we start seeing an increase of COVID-19. And unlike other common respiratory illnesses, COVID-19 is one that can get us sick at any point during the year.”

The GCHD can track the virus in a number of ways. Emergency room visits are one; this year ER visits for COVID-19 peaked the first week of August with 1.2% of visits COVID-related, according to Smith. Last year’s high point was 3.5% in the first week of September.

Officials can also detect the virus through the sewer system, said GCHD Investigations and Response Division Manager Amber McCoy.

“They are doing surveillance in wastewater here in Grant County.” McCoy said. “They test it for influenza, COVID, (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) … it determines whether it’s present in the community.”

Grant County’s wastewater viral activity level for COVID-19 was moderate in the first week of August, the most recent dates for which data was available, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

People who haven’t gotten the most recent COVID-19 vaccination are encouraged do so, according to the GCHD statement. It’s also a good idea to wash hands frequently, stay home if you’re sick and wear a mask if you have symptoms and have to go out, the GCHD wrote in its statement.

More information is available at granthealth.org.