Washington case counts (Source: www.doh.wa.gov)
After the restrictions, the masks and the lonely Thanksgiving Day, things are better in Seattle and King County, but state officials say Washington remains at risk of overwhelming its healthcare system with COVID-19 patients.
“Although substantial reductions in transmission have been observed, this reduction has not been sufficient to reverse increases in prevalence or hospitalizations, and daily hospital admissions remained relatively stable in the first three weeks of December,” Washington State Department of Health reports in your latest coronavirus status report (PDF).
State officials said that before the Christmas holiday, Washington “remains in a highly precarious situation, with prevalence at the same level as mid-November and daily hospitalizations at a higher level than in mid-November.”
Washington hospitals and ICUs continue to be highly populated, despite reductions in non-urgent procedures, according to the state report.
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Concerns over the increase in Thanksgiving Day led to restrictions on social gatherings and most business in Washington starting in November. Governor Jay Inslee asked people to stop meeting family and friends for the holiday.
Similar discipline is needed for Christmas, state officials said on Wednesday.
“Any relaxation in behaviors that successfully reduced transmission during the previous month would again result in exponential growth in cases and hospitalizations, but starting from a much higher baseline level than in early November,” says the report.
Authorities say that daily hospital admissions in Washington should have doubled every two weeks if transmission had remained at the levels seen in early November. If the rate of increase were to occur from current levels, COVID-19 admissions “would overload the hospital’s capacity in a matter of weeks.”
The effort to encourage safe Thanksgiving behavior appears to have helped slow down the spread in Seattle and King County. The county is currently averaging about 400 new positive cases per day – below peaks above 700 in November.
The county continues to pay high prices for those who get sick. New hospitalizations are hovering around 31 a day and deaths are being reported at around 7 – every day.
And there will be more deaths to come. About 2% of those who get sick died of complications related to COVID-19.
King County’s readiness appears to be holding steady. The municipality reports that 84% of its hospital beds are occupied – still above the 80% readiness target, but a total is that it is no longer increasing.
In the meantime, more is being done to help people overcome the crisis. CHS reported here what comes next, as new vaccines arrive in Seattle and here when “Phase 1a” of state distribution began.
On Wednesday, Governor Inslee announced that he would extend the eviction ban again until March 2021.
And in Washington DC, Congress agreed to a $ 900 billion relief bill that includes new stimulus checks, expanded unemployment insurance and billions to help support industries, small businesses and theaters and live music venues. Now you just need to get the bill from the lame duck president.
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