SEATTLE — Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin, with Public Health - Seattle & King County, expressed concern Friday with the spread of the coronavirus throughout the county.
“For the past seven weeks or so, since Sept. 21, COVID-19 cases have been increasing in King County and regionally in Washington state, and many states across the country,” said Duchin during a Friday afternoon press conference.
Duchin said they're seeing increasing COVID-19 cases across all ages in the county, but predominantly among young and working age adults. He said 70% of the county's cases are in the 20- to 60-year-old age range.
“We have reached a new peak, with approximately 308 new cases reported each day last week,” Duchin said. “That’s four-fold higher than late September, and over 100 cases per day more than the initial outbreak in the spring.”
Duchin said as of Friday, the county has had 29,465 positive COVID-19 cases, 2,629 hospitalizations and 810 deaths since the virus first hit the region.
Duchin also said as of Tuesday, the 14-day incidence rate is 155 per 100,000 residents and is “expected to increase.” Local health officials want to see that number be 25 or less per 100,000 residents.
“This has placed tremendous stress and overload on our case and contact investigators and our outbreak investigators,” said Duchin.
Testing is up across the county, Duchin said, with more people taking advantage of newly opened testing sites in south King County.
“However, along with the increase in testing, the county-wide positivity rate has also increased from approximately 2% in September to about 3.5% recently, and this reflects increasing transmission. It shows us that the number of cases we’re seeing are not just a result of increased testing."
He said “too many” of the recent COVID-19 cases are related to community activities and travel, gatherings with friends and families, parties, weddings and visiting bars and restaurants.
“Cases continue to accelerate in the wrong direction and it’s best to hit the brakes before we crash and not after,” said Duchin. “Too many of us are doing too much with too little consideration of the consequences of our actions on others. The risks of acquiring COVID-19 today is higher now than it has ever been.”
Duchin said going into the holiday season, people need to be extremely vigilant and not let pandemic fatigue stop them from taking precautions, such as wearing masks, social distancing and limiting time indoors with others not in their immediate households.
“We can choose our path forward or we can let the virus choose it for us," said Duchin. "Ignoring COVID prevention is a recipe for unnecessary suffering. I understand COVID fatigue and stress, and I feel it myself everyday."
The rise in COVID-19 cases isn't just hitting King County, as Duchin said it's also being seen across Washington.
On Thursday, Health Officer for the Washington Department of Health (DOH) Dr. Kathy Lofy said, "We're going the wrong way fast," referring to a spike in COVID-19 cases across the state. She said this week the DOH reported 1,500 new cases, which is the highest number of cases the state has ever reported in a single day.