Coronavirus Deaths, Hospitalizations Rising In Washington

SEATTLE, WA — The recent surge in coronavirus cases across Washington now appears to be causing an increase in deaths and hospitalizations across the state, according to a new report.

Over the past month, Washington has been breaking records for daily coronavirus counts, sometimes reaching over 1,000 new cases a day. However, most of the new cases have been in younger adults who are at lower risk of serious illness and, as a result, there hasn't been an equal increase in hospitalizations or deaths. A new report says that may be changing, and that both hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise as the disease has begun to spread into higher-risk age groups.

The report from the Bellevue-based Institute for Disease Modeling found that distribution of new coronavirus cases has changed, with a rise in cases in both older adults and children. That, in turn, has led to an increase in hospitalizations across all age groups, except for children under 19 and a possible decline in hospitalizations for adults 40 to 59 in eastern Washington. Otherwise, those rates have universally gone up.

Rising hospitalizations have been matched with an increase in deaths: Deaths have been on the rise in eastern Washington for some time, but researchers say for the first time since March they appear to be rising in western Washington as well.

Washington's top health officials have long been warning that the surge in coronavirus cases wouldn't stay confined to just younger adults, and now that the disease is moving into other demographics, it's time for residents to reconsider their behavior and do more to slow the spread of the virus.

"We must do more across the state. We are still at great risk for significant growth as the virus continues to spread in Washington state. And, as it moves into more vulnerable age groups, I am very concerned that hospitalizations and deaths will continue to increase," Secretary of Health John Wiesman said. "Our actions matter: Stay home, keep distance and wear a face covering. We all need to take this responsibility seriously and limit our activity to protect the health and safety of our communities."

There is some slight hope to be found in the report, however: the study found that new coronavirus cases may have plateaued or be on the decline in King, Spokane, Clark, Franklin and Yakima counties, all of which have recently been struggling with elevated case counts.

The IDM attributes those improvements to better adherence to masking and social distancing timelines, though they note that it could also be due to delays in testing.

Also improved is the effective reproduction number — called Re — which shows how many people each new coronavirus patient is infecting. Researchers say that while it is still too high and the virus is still growing, it appears to have gone down in both eastern and western Washington:

To continue to tamp down on coronavirus transmissions and turn the tide, state leaders and health experts are still encouraging residents to take the virus seriously by wearing a mask, practicing safe social distancing, staying home when possible and frequently washing their hands.

Read the full report from the Institute of Disease Modeling

This article originally appeared on the Seattle Patch