Washington state health officials warned people living in the state on Tuesday to cancel their Thanksgiving plans and opt for virtual get togethers as the COVID-19 pandemic gains ground.
A Tuesday press conference saw a range of health experts detailing the state of the pandemic in Washington.
State health officials repeated the same advice they have dolled out since late September: wear a face mask, stay six feet apart from people outside your household, and limit social gatherings to just a few people.
DOH Secretary of Health Lacy Fehrenbach recommended that people plan on not holding any social gatherings for at least the next few weeks.
“It’s important to remember that we can get COVID from people we know, love, and trust who may not know they have it or be asymptomatic,” Fehrenbach said. “We know that folks are done with COVID and looking forward to the holidays, but COVID isn’t yet done with us and it doesn’t take holidays.”
On Monday, the DOH reported 1,239 new COVID-19 cases, marking the sixth consecutive day with more than 1,000 new cases reported statewide. Monday’s total includes 21 additional deaths between Friday and Sunday, as the state no longer updates its death toll on weekends.
Between November 4 and November 9, the DOH reported an average of 1,426 new COVID-19 cases per day. Total hospitalizations rose to 228.
Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer at Seattle and King County Health, reported on Tuesday that hospitalizations were already up by 30% compared to last week. King County, he said, has averaged 400 new cases a day in past week.
Like his colleagues during Tuesday’s press conference, Duchin acknowledged that “COVID fatigue” may have set in for many people in the state, but now was not the time to give up.
“I’m certainly fatigued and I want this to end,” Duchin said. “And I understand that it’s hard to make sacrifices and things may seem okay in our own personal circles. COVID-19 is a viral wildfire and we are the fuel.”
John Lynch, medical director of Harborview Medical Center’s Infection Control, warned that increased stress on Washington hospitals could be too much for the state’s health care system to bear.
“These are preventable illnesses” Lynch said. “We want to maintain access. The way to maintain access is to keep hospitals running and that’s all dependent on the steps we take as a community.”
According to the Washington Hospital Association, the state’s ICU capacity is hovering around 60% and overall bed capacity at about 70%.
North Idaho’s Kootenai Health to the west has seen COVID-19 inpatients capacity skyrocket. A hospital official confirmed last week to The Center Square that its bed capacity is at 86%—down from 99% just a few weeks ago.
A model released by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimated that as many as 66,000 lives could be saved by December 1 if at least 95% of Americans wore face masks as recommended by governors across the country.
When asked by reporters why Inslee had not issued another stay-at-home order in response to the state’s burgeoning caseload, his chief of staff, David Postman, said the answer was simple: people don’t like them.
“There is a lot that each person in this state can do to help protect themselves and protect their communities and frankly, that is so much better than shutting down the economy,” Postman said. “If it continues to get worse, if people don’t do the basic, common sense things that have been laid out in detail today, then we’ll think about what those next steps are.”
Epidemiologist Dr. Christopher Spitters suggested that young children may not pose as much risk of transmission as previously thought and public schools should consider adapting plans to resume limited in-person instruction.
“These younger age kids appear to not be as efficient transmitters are older kids,” Spitters said.
As of Monday, Washington has seen 120,011 cases of COVID-19 and 2,482 deaths. By Monday, the state’s positivity rate was 4.7% or more than twice the target.
Acting Assistant DOH Secretary Michele Roberts shared widespread hopes that a promising COVID-19 vaccine from pharmaceutical company Pfizer could be distributed by the end of the year if given the green light by authorities.
“There’s still a lot to learn about how well the vaccines will and how long they will provide protection,” Roberts said.
Pfizer has announced it intends to submit its vaccine for FDA approval by mid-November. Roberts said the DOH has not been given a timeline by the federal government for when they might receive it if approved or how many doses would be supplied for Washington.
Washington is among seven states which will conduct an independent review of any federally-approved vaccine before distributing it to the public.
