SEATTLE — Health officials in King County are once again warning people against holiday gatherings and travel to help limit their exposure to the coronavirus as cases keep climbing.
"Our country is burning up with COVID," said Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for Public Health — Seattle & King County during a briefing Friday. "Because there’s so much COVID in the country, your risk of being exposed to COVID is quite high."
Duchin said COVID transmission continues to be at a "dangerous and unacceptably" high level.
He said the 14-day incidence rate of COVID is 400 per 100,000 residents, which is well above the preferred 25 per 100,000. He said there were approximately 19,000 new cases reported in November and approximately 650 new cases reported daily over the past seven days.
Deaths due to the virus are also on the rise.
"The increase in COVID-19 deaths, the gradual increase that we noted since mid-November has accelerated recently. Our most recent weekly numbers show an average of seven deaths daily, previously, that was under two deaths per day since September," Duchin said.
As of Friday, King County has reported 51,671 COVID cases, 920 deaths, and more than 3,500 hospitalizations since the outbreak was first recognized in February, according to data from Public Health — Seattle & King County.
"We have seen a sustained increase in hospitalizations throughout November with almost 30 people hospitalized per day over the last week, that’s up from 50 per week during the summer and through October," said Duchin.
Duchin said over 80% of King County hospital's acute care beds are occupied, and 10% of those are with COVID cases. In addition, he said 81% of the hospital's ICU beds are occupied and about 20% of those beds are with COVID patients.
"Our hospitals are stressed and they’re canceling surgeries and they’re continuing to develop emergency staffing plans and prepare for the possibility of a worsening crisis," said Duchin.
He also said the county has seen an uptick in COVID infections among healthcare workers, with 750 new cases reported in November. That was the highest number among healthcare professionals since the outbreak began, according to Duchin.
As the pandemic surges on, Duchin expressed hope knowing that a coronavirus vaccine will soon start being being administered to groups most at risk, including healthcare professionals and essential workers.
He also tried to calm the fears some may be having about a rushed vaccine.
"The main reason that COVID vaccines are being developed more quickly is that due to the pandemic, vaccine developers were given funding by governments to develop several of the required steps at the same time, instead of one after the next like they usually do," said Duchin.
"All vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines must go through multiple phases of testing for safety and effectiveness," Duchin added.
He also explained how these vaccine are different from others, because they don't contain the virus itself, instead the COVID-19 vaccine uses a new molecular blueprint called mRNA.
"mRNA, which instructs our cells to make a protein that's similar to a protein found on the surface of the coronaviruses and our immune system develops a protective response to that protein," said Duchin.
While the general public may not have access to the vaccine for months, Duchin said people can still take measures to limit the spread of the virus like mask wearing, avoiding crowded indoor spaces, limiting interactions outside the household, and not traveling for the holidays.
He announced that King County has also opened additional free COVID testing sites, including one at Bellevue College that will open Dec. 15. For more information on King County testing sites, click here.
“The painful reality is that COVID-19 continues to pose a deadly threat, both locally and nationally,” said Duchin. “The virus is not going to relent in the next few months, and we can’t either."
