UW Virology head ‘cautiously optimistic’ as Washington begins to reopen
Jun 12, 2020, 11:54 AM | Updated: 12:24 pm
An encouraging sign for passersby spotted in the window of a restaurant in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle. (MyNorthwest photo)
(MyNorthwest photo)
As counties across Washington begin to reopen, the state has largely avoided a surge in new cases ahead of the summer months, but there are still concerns that a second coronavirus wave could be on the horizon this fall.
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“You don’t have to be a virologist to know that September, October, November, you get into the colder seasons,” UW Virology head Dr. Keith Jerome told KIRO Radio’s Dave Ross. “People are indoors more, [and] there are just more respiratory infections. You’re more likely to get a cold; you’re more likely to get the flu. Coronaviruses typically show some seasonality like that.”
Other parts of the United States have already begun to report upticks in cases well in advance of the fall and winter seasons.
Texas recently reported its highest single-day total of new COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, while Florida has seen its highest seven-day total in that same period.
It’s a bit of a different story in Washington, though, where Dr. Jerome remains tentatively bullish about the measures residents have taken to avoid a second wave in the summer.
“People are still generally doing the right thing, keeping the distance between themselves and wearing masks and washing hands,” he noted. “We’ve got to keep a close eye on this, but I’m cautiously optimistic that we’re sort of treading the path appropriately.”
Washington state begins to reopen, county by county
As of late Thursday, Washington had 24,779 total confirmed coronavirus cases, along with 1,194 deaths. The state has yet to see a significant spike in cases in recent weeks, which has had many counties moving swiftly through Gov. Inslee’s reopening phases.
Meanwhile, at UW Virology’s lab, rates of positive COVID-19 tests have remained manageable.
“The nice thing is that we’re seeing is that the positivity rate has been pretty low, in the 2% or so range, sometimes a little even lower than that,” Jerome said. “You really want that positivity rate to be down there around 1 or 2%.”
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