The buttons are on a table to be handed out to the first volunteers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at UW Medicine, Tuesday, December 15, 2020, in Seattle. (AP Photo / Elaine Thompson)
Washington is ranked in the top five for the lowest coronavirus rates in the country.
“We are 46 years old on the line,” said Dr. Francis Riedo of EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland on Monday. “There are only a small number of states that are doing a little better than we are.”
Dr. Riedo is a specialist in infectious diseases at the hospital, which treated patients with coronavirus at the beginning of the pandemic. Many patients arrived at the Kirkland area hospital from the Life Care Center, a nursing home considered one of the first epicenters in the United States.
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Dr. Riedo says that the classification is determined by the number of cases per 100,000 residents.
He says comparing Washington’s case rates with other states tells him that precautions taken in Washington are working and need to continue until there is a significant drop in new positives.
“I think it is a platform that we are doing as well as we are,” said the doctor. “Can we do better? You bet. And we need to do better for a little bit more until we have everything under control. “
Riedo says hospitalization rates in Washington are close to the highest numbers ever, and many medical service providers are already struggling to have enough people who can report to work. But better treatment means that more people are surviving COVID-19.
In fact, the New York Times ICU tracker indicates that there is an average occupancy rate of 71% in Washington state hospitals. That number is higher in populous cities like Seattle.
Riedo believes that vaccines are still the best hope for keeping the pandemic in check.
The state of Washington is expected to receive more than 100,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine this week. This includes 57,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 44,000 doses of Moderna. So far, more than 30,000 doses have been administered across the state.
Diane Duthweiler of KIRO Radio contributed to this report.