The rate of new COVID-19 infections continues to rise in Seattle and the rest of King County, with more than 300 new cases reported each day last week. In the April peak, the county reported less than 200 new cases per day on average.
So with these record-breaking numbers, why hasn’t the county, which includes Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond, or the state returned to the stay home, stay healthy measures that were put in place earlier this year?
For now, the hospitals and healthcare system are able to stay ahead of the novel coronavirus and hospital beds and services remain available. But that could change, and the risk increases as people move indoors with colder weather and to celebrate holidays.
Officials with the state and county “are all thinking of what policy steps might be necessary if we see this worrisome impact on our healthcare system begin,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin, the top health officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County.
“We will have to impose restrictions that we would rather not. We would rather have people be able to make the decisions for themselves to do things more safely,” Duchin said Friday afternoon in an online COVID briefing.
The COVID impact on hospitals and providers has been more manageable this fall because many of the cases are in younger people who are less likely to be hospitalized to fight the infection. Experts caution that young people can still become extremely sick and experience symptoms that last months.
If the healthcare system does become overwhelmed, people would potentially not have access to essential care for conditions beyond COVID, creating an “intolerable” situation, Duchin said.
“I am not a fan of waiting until the last moment when our healthcare system is already teetering on the brink,” he said.
Counties in Washington are currently operating under state-designated Phase 2 and Phase 3 restrictions that limit social interactions and business operations. King and other Puget Sound-area counties as well as some agricultural areas and more populous Eastern Washington counties are in the more restricted Phase 2 category.
Health officials are asking people to continue following safety practices that science has shown reduce the spread of COVID, including limiting interactions with people outside your household and wearing masks when leaving your home. If you do socialize, it should be in small groups, masked, outside, for a brief period and at a distance. Indoor interactions are safer in spaces that are well ventilated.
Scientists have credited steps taken by Microsoft and Amazon, implementing work from home policies before many others, with helping to stem the early spread of the disease.
Since the outbreak, Washington has had 114,241 COVID cases and 2,439 deaths, according to state figures.
Despite the increases, Washington remains in the bottom 10 states for cases per capita, with 15.4 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the New York Times. By comparison, Oregon has 14.3 cases and Hawaii is at 6.8. At the top of the list is North Dakota with 170.9 cases per 100,000.
The U.S. is now at 30 cases per 100,000 people. Canada is at 9.2.
In King County, the highest infection rates are among young and working-age adults, hitting communities of color the hardest in the south and southeast regions of the county.
The spread is most commonly seen within households, among essential workers, and due to travel and social events such as parties, celebrations and religious gatherings, according to the county.
King County is stepping up its public COVID education and outreach in communities of color in harder hit areas. It currently has a program to provide groceries for families in need who are quarantining due to illness or COVID exposure, and is expanding this to income support to allow people to stay at home.
Duchin cited overarching factors that are making it difficult to control the pandemic in the U.S, including mixed messages from leadership as to how to respond, a lack of trust in government, and societal fractures that make it challenging to come together as a community to fight the disease.
He urged vigilance while acknowledging widespread COVID fatigue, noting that the vast majority of the population remains vulnerable to infection: less than 5% of the community has been exposed and infected by the virus.
“This virus would be very happy to rage through like an uncontrolled fire,” Duchin said.
