Washington COVID-19 case rates higher than ever post-holidays

After leveling off and even declining in December, Washington state’s COVID-19 case counts are now rising again, and reaching the highest levels ever.

“One of the main concerns is we’re at higher rates than we have ever been since the beginning of this in March,” said Dr. Scott Lindquist, the state epidemiologist for communicable diseases.

The Washington State Department of Health released the latest statewide COVID-19 situation report on Wednesday, which includes a finding that case counts rebounded after the Christmas holiday and appear to now be increasing steeply.

There’s a chance that the flat and declining trends seen in mid-to-late December were due to fewer people seeking care or getting tested during the holidays, rather than an actual decrease in activity, according to the state DOH.

The @WADeptHealth updating #COVID19 situation right now saying WA is NOT flattening curve at moment but rather there are concerning trends of increased activity in Puget Sound and other parts of state @KIRORadio pic.twitter.com/7UGS43Tk2o

— Hanna Scott (@HannaKIROFM) January 13, 2021

Hospitalization trends show a similar decline through the end of December, with a rebound in early January. Lindquist says that while hospital capacity has been holding up pretty well so far, he does expect there will be an increase in patients very soon.

“The ‘hot spots’ in Washington remain the same: Snohomish, King, Pierce, Yakima, Clark, and Spokane,” Lindquist said, though the findings show many counties experienced a post-Christmas rebound.

Whatcom County Health Department Director Erica Lautenbach told KIRO Radio this week that the situation is critical there as well. Lautenbach expects this month’s COVID-19 cases to be triple that of December, which had been the county’s worst month ever. Since Dec. 30, cases have risen rapidly in the county, and this week’s seven-day average is twice as high as last week’s.

Whatcom County COVID transmission rate highest in Washington state

Across the state, case rates remain high with 31 out of 39 counties above 200 new cases per 100,000 people in the past two weeks, and 11 counties with rates above 500 new cases per 100,000 people.

“We are continuing to see flat trends at a high level of disease activity, with signs of a concerning uptick in the most recent data,” Lindquist said. “If we want to maintain the progress we made in the fall and move forward with reopening, we must redouble our efforts to control the virus by avoiding gatherings with people who don’t live with us, wearing masks, watching our distance and washing our hands.”

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