‘We can head this off before it’s out of control,’ state health officials urge
Though Washington state is not seeing the strain on its healthcare system that other states are experiencing, the state’s top health officials warned that now is the time to take “meaningful steps” to prevent a another surge of COVID-19.
Western and Eastern Washington are both seeing COVID transmission rates increase, according to the latest statewide situation report on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
Estimates placed the infection rate of Western Washington at approximately 1.34, with it slightly lower in eastern portions of the state at 1.12. The goal is for the rate to be below 1.0, meaning each new case of COVID-19, on average, would be transmitted to fewer than one other person. Anything over 1.0 means the infection rates are growing.
Hospitalizations on both sides of the Cascades also are up in October, though they’re increasing more dramatically on the west side.
“It’s not too late to reverse these rates,” Washington State Department of Health Deputy Secretary of Health for COVID-19 Response Lacy Fehrenbach said during an online media briefing Wednesday. “Each of us can take meaningful steps to protect our friends, families and communities and our health care system.”
The recent growth in cases is widely distributed across the state, State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy said during the briefing, adding that Snohomish, Pierce, Thurston and Clark counties were seeing “pretty rapid increase,” though counties in middle portions of the state are also seeing increases.
Whatcom, Benton and Franklin counties have seen slowed growth recently, but Lofy cautioned that every corner of the state should be wary.
“We are concerned about the entire region,” Lofy said. “We know this virus doesn’t care about county borders.”
Coronavirus does seem to care about age, though, as Lofy said hospitalizations and deaths have a definite correlation to the age groups most infected.
Though infection rates across the state remain higher among adults 25 to 39 and 40 to 59, Lofy said all age groups are seeing increases, particularly in Western Washington.
“This concerns me, because we know when we see an increase in older ages we can expect to see increases in hospitalizations and deaths,” Lofy said.
Those concerns are heightened, Lofy said as she looks at infection, hospitalization and death rates increasing in other parts of the country, adding “one thing we’ve learned about this virus is it can sneak up on you really quickly.”
With holidays, such as Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, on the horizon, Fehrenbach said it is vital that everybody take steps to slow COVID’s spread by limiting social gatherings and wearing masks.
“Gatherings and get-togethers can be risky even with people you know and trust,” Fehrenbach said. “We recently saw an outbreak of six new cases in a group of friends that got together to watch their favorite football team.”
She implored residents to wear masks whenever they are around anyone they don’t live with and to keep gatherings small and outside when possible, even if it means bundling up. When gatherings need to be moved inside, Fehrenbach again emphasized wearing masks, keeping gatherings short and opening windows and doors to increase ventilation.
“We can head this off before it’s out of control,” she said.
School outbreaks
As many school districts are beginning to welcome students back into classrooms, the state is seeing some small outbreaks at schools.
So far, Fehrenbach said, there have been 36 reported outbreaks in Washington’s K-12 schools across the state during the pandemic. Of those, she said 10 occurred either during the spring or over the summer, and 26 have appeared since Sept. 1.
The majority of the outbreaks, Fehrenbach went on to say, have infected five or fewer people.
“We are seeing promising signs and hopeful signs that we can open schools safely with good health and safety measures in place,” Fehrenbach said.
Vaccine plan
After submitting its statewide vaccination plan last week, the Department of Health is receiving feedback from around the state and from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health Acting Assistant Secretary Michele Roberts said during the briefing.
In addition to listening to that feedback, Roberts said the Department of Health is now working to assess and select the facilities that will administer the vaccine first once it is available.
“We don’t know when we are going to receive a vaccine, but we just want to be ready when the approval is given,” Roberts said.
Roberts said the Department of Health has been asked for about five sites — most likely hospitals — that have the ultra-cold storage capacity to make them potential vaccination sites. The department hopes to have those sites identified by next week.
Mental health
With the pandemic in Washington state now reaching eight months, Dr. Kira Mauseth of the Department of Health’s Behavior Health Strike Team said the constant barrage of hardships and bad news is taking its toll on everyone and actually changing the way our minds process information.
Rather than appreciating positive news or interactions when we receive them, we instead enter what Mauseth called “threat scanning mode” — or bracing for the next piece of bad news to hit us.
“Usually we soak in the thank yous and the positive interactions, but with all the bad news and difficulties we’ve seen over such a long period of time, we don’t process things in the same way,” she said.
The added stress can be manifested in tension headaches, feeling warm, sweating or tension in the chest or shoulders.
“It’s important that we take a breath before we respond so we make sure we keep pieces of all of our brains engaged in how we respond to people. ... Take a moment and time to tend to the positive things and let them soak in,” Mauseth said.
Doing so is especially important for parents to set a good example for young children, Mauseth added, much like a parent is asked to put on their own mask in a airplane before helping someone else.
“It’s important that we practice emotional regulation now, with the holidays coming up,” she said.
This story was originally published October 28, 2020 at 4:31 PM with the headline "‘We can head this off before it’s out of control,’ state health officials urge."
