College students returning to campuses are responsible for COVID-19 outbreaks nationwide, including in Whitman County, where students who returned to Pullman have tested positive in large numbers for the virus.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, health officials in Whitman County confirmed 89 new cases, and all but one of those cases were in teenagers or young adults. In less than a week, Whitman County has confirmed 162 COVID-19 cases in young adults and teenagers, with some who tested positive attending large gatherings that make contact tracing difficult.

Despite Washington State University offering remote-only classes, students returning and gathering in numbers larger than allowed in current COVID-19 phases or not using face coverings has led to more than a doubling of cases in Whitman County in the last week.

In Spokane, new students began to arrive on Wednesday at Gonzaga University, where students will be attending some classes in-person.

Whitworth University also plans to have students return to campus and attend some classes in-person in the coming weeks.

State health officials encouraged students to adhere to distancing, masking and gathering-limit guidance, emphasizing that such outbreaks are entirely preventable.

“You can see what’s happening across the country, and certainly we have issues in Whitman County with students who have returned to campus even though classes are remote,” State Secretary of Health John Wiesman told reporters Wednesday. “We are seeing an increase in students testing positive, much like what’s happened in other parts of our outbreak, these infections are occurring … in their social lives.”

It is not surprising that outbreaks are occurring, Wiesman said, but “they are preventable.”

Spokane County has begun to see a decrease in the number of residents testing positive, although the number of tests conducted locally is declining. Health Officer Dr. Bob Lutz cautiously said the county is in a “good place,” with encouraging declines in case counts, hospitalizations and the percent of residents testing positive.

Spokane County has averaged an 8.3% positivity rate in the last week, which is down from 11% a few weeks ago.

“Granted this is always subject to variability, but when you see that decrease in percent positivity, it suggests that the amount of the disease is decreasing in the community,” Lutz said.

Even still, the health district confirmed 50 more cases of the virus on Wednesday, and more county residents are hospitalized with the virus than earlier this week. There are 5,173 confirmed cases in the county and about 74% of those cases are considered recovered, meaning they are 28 days beyond their initial symptoms and not hospitalized.

Three more Spokane County residents have died from the virus, bringing the total to 116 deaths due to COVID-19 in the pandemic. Fifty patients are being treated for the virus in Spokane hospitals, and 40 of them are county residents.

Statewide, case counts and the percent of residents testing positive also appear to be headed in the right direction, though State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy warned that progress could be easily thwarted.

“All along during this pandemic we’ve learned that transmission is highly dependent on our behaviors,” Lofy said. “And I think if people change their behaviors from what they’re doing now, we can see a quick turn and see an increase in COVID activity.”

The Washington Department of Health updated its testing data this week to reveal the total number of tests conducted statewide. The state is averaging more than 13,000 tests per day, and the percent positivity statewide has dropped in recent weeks to about 4%.

Washington state will not follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s revised testing recommendations announced earlier this week.

The new CDC guidance directs a person who has been within six feet of a person with COVID-19 for 15 minutes but who is not experiencing symptoms to “not necessarily” get tested.

“You do not necessarily need a test unless you are a vulnerable individual or your health care provider or State or local public health officials recommend you take one,” the updated CDC guidance says.

Washington Department of Health officials disagree with this guidance and issued a statement Wednesday to clarify that any close contact of a person who has tested positive for the virus should get tested.

“We still do recommend that close contacts be tested,” Dr. Charissa Fotinos, deputy chief medical officer at the Health Care Authority, who is leading the state’s COVID-19 testing efforts, said Wednesday. “We want to identify people when they are infectious.”

For a person who has direct exposure to someone with COVID-19 but is not experiencing symptoms, Washington health officials recommend that they wait four to six days before getting tested in order to get the most accurate results.

“It’s best to wait four days or so before you get a test because that’s when if you’re going to test positive,” Wiesman said.

He also noted that anyone who exposed to someone with COVID-19 needs to quarantine themselves for 14 days whether or not they experience symptoms.

Reed Schuler, senior policy advisor in Gov. Jay Inslee’s office, said that people getting tested when they are exposed to the virus and people getting tested when they are experiencing symptoms have nearly the same positivity rate based on the largest Seattle drive-through testing sites’ numbers.

“In Seattle testing sites, we see a significant volume of confirmed cases from people who are asymptomatic with an exposure testing positive,” he said.