TACOMA, Wash. — New data shows COVID-19 case numbers leveling out throughout Washington state after hitting a record high.
Health officials such as Naomi Wilson, director of data and surveillance for the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department, are cautiously optimistic.
“We’re seeing some preliminary indicators that there’s a leveling off of case counts,” Wilson said.
Numbers from the Washington State Department of Health show the level of COVID-19 cases in Pierce, King, and Snohomish counties may have peaked in early January.
Wilson points to omicron as the source of the record highs Pierce County, and the country overall, saw over the past few weeks.
“Omicron has been both extremely infectious and contagious in our communities,” Wilson said. “We’re just reaching a point where we’ve peaked with that in our community-acquired spread and we’re looking toward a decline in cases in the next few weeks.”
But the Health Department is warning against celebrating too soon. Though the numbers from the Health Department do show cases beginning to level off, the number of actual cases are the highest Pierce County has seen.
Meanwhile, Wilson said there is another set of numbers that has her concerned.
“We still have minimal numbers of - less than desirable numbers - of our community in Pierce County has been vaccinated,” she said.
Wilson hopes that will change so that the county will be better protected against COVID-19.
“We know that vaccinations is what will protect the community from the spread of COVID as well as keep our community safe,” Wilson said.