There are still some children hospitalized with COVID-19 in Spokane County, but the number appears to be going down.

During the height of the omicron wave, there was a pandemic high of five to seven children and teens hospitalized with the virus in Spokane, Health Officer Dr. Francisco Velázquez told reporters Wednesday. Anywhere from one to three of those patients were in the pediatric intensive care unit. More kids also tested positive for the virus during the omicron wave.

In recent days, there were two to three pediatric COVID hospitalizations locally, he said.

Children have the lowest vaccination rates in the state and county.

In Spokane County, 22% of 5- to 11-year-olds have received one dose, while 46% of 12- to 17-year-olds in the county have received at least one dose.

Velázquez stressed the importance of getting vaccinated and boosted, even if you tested positive during the omicron wave.

“There’s always some immunity generated post-infection unless you’re immunocompromised, but we also know that the immune protection post-infection has not been as predictable with COVID-19 in general,” he said.

People who tested positive for the virus during the delta wave were reinfected during the omicron wave, and preliminary data show that people infected with omicron might test positive for the sublineage of the variant BA.2.

BA.2 has caused a surge in cases in South Africa, the United Kingdom and Denmark, but so far in Washington state, it trails the original omicron strain.

In early February, omicron made up 88% of all sequenced cases in Washington state, and BA.2 made up 11.3% of all cases sequenced, according to data from the Department of Health.

Here’s a look at local numbers

The Spokane Regional Health District reported 32 new COVID-19 cases and 28 additional deaths on Wednesday.

There have been 1,278 deaths due to COVID-19 in Spokane County residents.

There are 96 patients hospitalized with the virus in Spokane.

The Panhandle Health District reported 40 new COVID-19 cases and still has a backlog of 4,190 cases.

There are 67 Panhandle residents hospitalized with the virus.