Washington hospitals starting to see Omicron stress ease, but deaths remain high
Hospitals are starting to see an easing of the Omicron surge that has overrun their emergency rooms for weeks, but deaths from the COVID-19 virus remain high.
That was the assessment Tuesday from Washington State Hospital Association CEO Cassie Sauer in a statewide briefing from hospital representatives.
“What we’re seeing is that as people are discharged from the hospital from COVID, or die from COVID, there are fewer people coming in behind them,” Sauer told reporters.
The state’s seven-day rolling average of new hospitalizations is at 304, down from the previous week of 317.
Total confirmed hospitalizations are also falling. As of Feb. 7, confirmed hospitalizations across the state had decreased to 1,635, down from 1,958. on Feb. 1.
“This is the first week in a while where we’ve been able to report to you that kind of decline, so that is great,” she added.
She noted that hospitalizations in Spokane County also were declining, at 170 now compared with 196 a week ago. Eastern Washington has been about a week or two behind in the Omicron surge compared with Western Washington.
The biggest improvement, she noted, was that not as many hospital staff are out now with the virus compared with a month ago.
“About a month ago, we had 808 staff (statewide) who were out of work due to COVID exposure or infection. And then a week ago there were 134 and yesterday there was 108,” she said. “That is a really very good shift and very helpful for hospital capacity, because the capacity is both the number of patients who need care and the number of staff available to care for them.”
The number of those on ventilators has dropped slightly, at 143 compared with 152 a week ago. The decline is tied to many of them dying, Sauer noted, and the state is still averaging 25-30 COVID deaths a day.
“I find this number absolutely shocking that we seem to have now kind of accepted as background noise in our state,” she said. “It’s just remarkable to me and for folks who are losing a loved one right now when there are vaccines and treatment.”
One complication amid the declining numbers is the continuing supply-chain struggle with PPE, particularly N95s for staff. Sauer said that operating under the “conventional levels” of PPE as ordered by the state in January, they now do not have enough for a required 30-day supply or another surge.
N95s, fit-tested for staff, should not be confused with the ones available for free at local pharmacies as part of the federal government’s distribution program.
According to Sauer, conventional standards call for a new mask to be used as the manufacturer instructs, which many times calls for a new mask after each patient. She added that WSHA has sought guidance from the state to allow for what Sauer called “somewhat extended” mask use.
Early in the pandemic health care workers had to wear the same mask for days because of lack of supply. While supplies are better now, the supply chain has created new challenges nationally.
“The requirement for conventional use is burning through the supplies of N95 far too quickly,” she said. An order for 1.6 million N95s has been sent to manufacturer 3M.
As the surge eases off, it will take time for hospitals to recover, as they now start the process of catching up to all the delayed surgeries and procedures, as other representatives on the call acknowledged, not to mention the rate of burnout among staff.
“The emotional toll that it has taken of these last two years on health care workers is something we’re going to be dealing with for really a generation,” said Dr. Shaquita Bell, senior medical director for Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic in Seattle.
Following recent actions from California and Oregon on changes regarding mask mandates in those states scheduled for February and March, Washington hospital officials on Tuesday said it was too soon to address similar changes in Washington.
“I think it’s too early to even talk about that idea, personally,” said Dr. Kunal Joshi, hospitalist with Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue.
“Just because we’ve seen maybe, you know, seven to 10 days of downward decline, we get excited, because, you know, we want our lives back, I get that,” Joshi said.
He cautioned that waves come and go, while others cautioned that some mask requirements might stick around beyond the pandemic.
“I don’t know we’ll ever lift them in health care,” said Bell. “I mean we can talk about schools and restaurants, but it will be a long time before you walk in a health care center setting and somebody doesn’t have a mask on — maybe not in our lifetime.”
This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 12:55 PM with the headline "Washington hospitals starting to see Omicron stress ease, but deaths remain high."
