COVID activity in the Inland Northwest remains low, despite a slight increase in cases reported by the Spokane Regional Health District in the last two weeks.

A backlog of cases from the Department of Health has inflated case counts in the last 12 days, district officials said, and most of these cases were from the omicron surge, before March.

The district’s case counts indicate when cases are reported, not necessarily sample collection date, which is why recent case counts have not indicated a more significant decline.

That said, Health Officer Dr. Francisco Velázquez said he expects to see some cases following spring break travel as well as the Easter and Passover holidays.

Also, it’s likely people are testing at home but not reporting their results. Velázquez encourages people to keep utilizing testing resources, including the community testing sites.

In Spokane County, 60% of the population ages 5 and older is fully vaccinated, but just 52% of eligible recipients have gotten a booster dose.

Health officials recommend vaccination and booster doses, even for people who have tested positive for the virus.

Velázquez said that people who tested positive with the omicron variant could test positive again for BA.2, which is now the predominant variant in Washington state, making up 62% of its most recently sequenced virus samples.

“The false sense of security is that you won’t get sick again, but with omicron and the sub-variant families, we’ve seen reinfections and breakthrough cases at rates we hadn’t seen with previous variants,” Velázquez said.

Booster doses increase the protective effects of vaccines, and now everyone who is 50 and older qualifies for a fourth booster dose, as long as your last booster was four months ago.

Here’s a look at local numbers

The Spokane Regional Health District reported 36 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths on Wednesday.

There are 11 patients hospitalized with the virus in Spokane.

The Panhandle Health District reported four new COVID-19 cases and no additional deaths.

There are two Panhandle residents hospitalized with the virus.

Editor’s note: This article has been corrected to reflect that everyone 50 and older is eligible for a second booster dose.