OLYMPIA, Washington. According to the state Health Department status report, COVID-19 transmission is growing, but several counties, including Spokane, may be reducing their infection rates.
The report estimates that the reproductive number of COVID (the number of new people each patient will infect, also called R-naught) is greater than one in eastern and western Washington. The Department of Health says that the goal of everyone’s coronavirus response is to get that number well below one.
While R-nada is down from last week’s report, DOH says the trend still shows growth in COVID-19 cases.
DOH notes that several counties may be seeing their infections stagnate or even decrease; Spokane, Clark, Franklin, King and Yakima counties included. Health officials say this is a sign of an actual decline in cases, or is indicative of delays in testing.
The trend in other counties is not as great as infections continue to rise, the DOH reports.
Another concern is that the test positivity rate remains high across the state and is also increasing in western Washington. DOH reports that this reflects an increased spread of the virus, and not simply an increase in testing.
Most worrisome of all is the change in infections by age group; At the start of the pandemic, people over the age of 60 contracted the virus more than any other age group. Now, it’s overly affecting young adults, who in turn spread COVID-19 to younger and older age groups.
All age groups are now seeing an increase in hospitalizations, and DOH says deaths are also on the rise: the death rate in western Washington is becoming sadly comparable to what they saw in March.
“While I am encouraged by continued progress in Yakima County, the data requires that we must do more across the state,” said Health Secretary John Wiesman. “We are still at great risk for significant growth as the virus continues to spread in Washington state. And as I move into more vulnerable age groups, I am very concerned that hospitalizations and deaths will continue to increase. ”
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