4 takeaways about the status of COVID-19 in Washington state ahead of Thanksgiving
After weeks of pleas for Washington residents to stay home and avoid gathering with people who don’t live with them this holiday season, health officials on the eve of Thanksgiving had this to say: “It’s never too late to make a good decision.”
That particular mantra came first from Kira Mauseth, who’s on the state’s Behavioral Health Strike Team, and then from state Secretary of Health John Wiesman. They were two of several officials who gave an update on the state’s response to COVID-19 at a virtual news briefing Wednesday afternoon.
An ongoing surge in cases of COVID-19 has sparked a travel advisory, new restrictions on gatherings and a variety of businesses, as well as efforts by the government to help businesses economically impacted by those restrictions.
It may feel like Washington residents are hearing the same things repeatedly about the state of COVID-19 here. But, this week, communications from political leaders, health officials, and health care workers increased in urgency.
The state Department of Health, with input from the Governor’s Office, launched a TV commercial urging residents not to attend gatherings and to take the familiar precautions. It shows a series of scenes with a common pattern: A person at a gathering, then that person in the hospital breathing with assistance. A commercial will air in Spanish, too, Gov. Inslee said Tuesday.
At the same time, Inslee and Wiesman have expressed pride in the results of a New York Times survey of 150,000 people nationwide, which found that just 27% of people planned to dine with people outside of their household for Thanksgiving. Washington is the state with the lowest percentage in that survey, with fewer than 20% of respondents saying they’ll be gathering with people outside their household.
A few major takeaways from state and health officials address:
1. Hospitalizations are rising, quickly.
The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients in Washington hospitals nearly doubled between Nov. 1 and Nov. 23, according to state data, while the number of those patients in intensive care units increased by roughly 73%.
In that time period, hospitalizations rose from 471 to 932, according to DOH, and the number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients in ICUs rose from 124 to 214. The state’s latest situation report shows hospital admissions are rising on both sides of the Cascades, with the western half of the state seeing a more rapid rise.
Health officials have consistently warned of the danger a surge in COVID-19 poses for hospital capacity.
“If this doubling rate continues, we may have over 1,800 COVID-19 patients in our hospitals by mid-December,” a Wednesday press release from DOH reads.
Some hospital systems have already started to cancel some non-urgent surgeries, State Health Officer Kathy Lofy said at Wednesday’s briefing.
2. Cases are increasing across the state, across age groups.
Lofy presented data from the latest COVID-19 situation report Wednesday that shows the number of daily positive tests and the number of total daily tests are surging, with the number of positive tests rising more quickly than the total.
The report shows an estimated effective reproduction number — or how many people a COVID-19 patient will infect — on of about 1.48 in Western Washington and 1.51 in Eastern Washington, as of Nov. 8. Any number above one means the outbreak is getting bigger, Lofy said Wednesday.
The report also shows that “the rate of increase in cases is accelerating across all age groups” statewide, with the largest increase in the 25-39 and 40-59 age groups.
3. The state’s hiring to handle the surge.
The Department of Health is hiring about 350 new case investigators and contact tracers in the next two weeks, according to Scott Lindquist, State Epidemiologist for Communicable Diseases. He also talked about a push to improve those efforts.
Wiesman cited the hiring spree in an answer to a reporter’s question about preparation for a continued surge. Lofy said hospital preparedness efforts, such as surge plans, also could include cutting back on “almost everything” that’s not urgent and training nurses who don’t normally work in ICUs to work in that environment, she said.
4. A light at the end of the tunnel.
Gov. Jay Inslee has often emphasizes that this holiday season without gatherings will likely be a one-time sacrifice, largely because of the recent pace of progress on COVID-19 vaccines. Inslee said Tuesday that the state could begin to see vaccines administered by mid-December.
Michele Roberts, Acting Assistant Secretary for DOH, said Wednesday the federal government estimates Washington state could receive 62,400 doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer in an initial allocation, if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves the company’s request for emergency use authorization. An estimated 200,000 doses of the vaccine could arrive by the end of December.
Regular shipments could begin in January, she said.
The first facilities to get vaccines will be those that serve or employ the groups recommended to get vaccinated first: high-risk workers in health care settings.
Inslee on Tuesday said vaccines won’t be available to the majority of residents until sometime in 2021.
As of Wednesday, 54 clinics and pharmacies had enrolled to become COVID-19 vaccine providers, she said, with many more pending approval or partially complete.
This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 5:22 PM.
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