KING COUNTY, Wash. — King County is seeing a summertime spike in COVID-19 cases, and that includes hospitalizations, according to Seattle and King County Public Health.
King County’s data dashboard shows that for the week of Aug. 10, there were 111 people hospitalized with COVID-19. The slightly raised red line means the percent of ER visits for COVID-19 is the highest it’s been this year, but is lower than this time last year.
COVID-19 remains a very real health threat, and this is particularly important for high-risk individuals,” Seattle and King County Public Health Chief of Communicable Disease Epidemiology and Immunization Dr. Eric Chow told KOMO News. “COVID-19, with this increase, really expands the time of year when we should take these precautions and think about these respiratory illnesses.
“Any idea why we keep seeing the surge in the summertime?” KOMO News’ Jackie Kent asked.
“The question is certainly on all our minds,” Dr. Chow responded. “It could be several different reasons, including how COVID-19 spreads from person to person and what people are doing at this point in the year.”
Dr. Chow explained officials measure COVID-19 rates based on the number of ER visits, positive tests, and data from wastewater collected from treatment plants. He said new variants are driving part of this summertime boost.
“I think it’s probably just going to be the norm, I guess,” Tyler Bartholomew from Seattle said. “We’ve been hearing that since COVID-19 pandemic times- it’s just going to be a norm of our life and hopefully it gets less and less as more people are vaccinated, but it’s not surprising.”
County data shows that in the past year, nearly 19% of people were vaccinated with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Chow explained that right now it might be hard to find the vaccine because it’s the time of year between last year’s formulation and the updated vaccine. That’s why he emphasizes taking other protective steps. He advises people six months and older to be up to date on vaccinations, and those with pre-existing health conditions can take additional precautions like wearing a well-fitted mask and improving ventilation, when possible.
Source link
