By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Public Health Seattle King County recently held a news conference telling the people to brace for an increase in COVID cases and to continue being vigilant during the holiday season in order to decrease possible exposure to the virus, especially as new cases of the Omicron variant are being reported in Washington state.
As of December 22, there were 183,035 cases, 8,973 hospitalizations, and 2,142 deaths in King County from COVID 19. In addition, the 7-day average for cases is 692, a 143% increase from the week before.
According to Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer for Public Health Seattle King County, hospitals are reporting “extremely high patient volumes with ninety-eight percent of critical beds filled.”
“A vast majority of the cases continue to be among the unvaccinated where people are being hospitalized every 3 hours,” said Duchin during a recent press conference.
On December 4, the region discovered its first case due to omicron. Since then, the Washington State Department of Health identified over 400 Omicron cases and the actual number is likely much higher.
Gov. Jay Inslee released a statement Saturday after public health officials confirmed three cases of the Omicron variant in Washington state.
“We knew this day was inevitable, but the good news is we have more tools at our disposal to fight the virus than at any previous point in the pandemic, and we must continue to protect ourselves and our communities,” said Inslee.
Currently, the Public Health department does not have all the answers about the Omicron variant but they are advising people to take it seriously and to take steps to decrease the risks.
“There is still much to learn about this variant,” says Inslee. “As scientists around the world continue to study it. It remains as important as ever to get vaccinated, get boosted, wear a mask and be safe.”
“We cannot yield an inch to this virus. Be vigilant for any symptoms – such as fever or fatigue – and mask up in public settings. We all have the power to keep our communities safe,” Inslee adds.
There’s increasing evidence that the Omicron variant is significantly more transmissible than the Delta variant. The number of cases in several countries outside the U.S. is doubling every 2 to 3 days and there is an increasing number of large outbreaks in both the vaccinated and unvaccinated.
According to Duchin, the Delta variant makes up the vast majority of cases in King County and regionally, “but Omicron spreads explosively fast, several times better than Delta”, and that we can “expect a rapid increase in Omicron cases over the next few weeks.”
While health officials are concerned about COVID spikes during the holiday season, they were also optimistic about a 70 percent decrease in hospitalizations since the peak that was experienced during the summer. The majority of cases that have been reported have not required hospitalization, which many experts say are a result of people being vaccinated. Officials warn that we can expect to see more infections in vaccinated people but also caution that vaccinated people still have protections from serious illness and severe infections.
Because the Omicron variant can evade antibody protections from past infections, Duchin says it is important to get vaccinated because “this virus is less forgiving, and we will need to take advantage of as many layers as we can and apply them effectively as we can.”
“The single most important thing we can do is to get vaccinated,” says Duchin. “Even if you have previously had covid 19.”
For more information regarding vaccines, strategies and the variants visit https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health.aspx
