The sign outside the COVID-19 vaccination site in Lumen Field. (MyNorthwest Photo)
King County is just below the threshold to stay in Phase 3 and the next re-evaluation date is May 3rd.
Business organizations are urging Governor Inslee to delay the decision to back down
Dr. Jeff Duchin, Public Health Officer – Seattle and King County, said Friday that the 14-day incident rate was 198.5 per 100,000 residents, which is similar to last week and about twice the fall-winter climb.
Hospitalizations have been on the rise since March. Duchin said last week 97 King County residents were hospitalized with COVID-19, 15 percent more than the previous week.
He is currently a hospitalized person every hour and 45 minutes. The hospitalization rate ranges from 3.5 to 4 per 100,000 residents per week, double what it was in early March.
Duchin said the largest number of recent hospitalizations are adults 40 to 69 years old. The next age group is young people aged 20 to 39 years.
To stay in Phase 3, large counties must have 200 or fewer new cases per 100,000 residents for two weeks and five or fewer hospitalizations per 100,000 residents during the past week. Counties with a population of less than 50,000 must have 100 or fewer new cases in two weeks and three or fewer hospitalizations during the past week.
Governor Inslee announced Monday that Cowlitz, Pierce and Whitman counties would return to Phase 2 reopening. These three counties withdrew Friday.
Governor Inslee is defending the decision to return three counties to Phase 2
Previously, any county that did not meet one of these two criteria would have to return to Phase 2. Governor Inslee announced in early April that now a county should not meet both of us criteria before going back.
Deaths by covid
Weekly deaths have fallen sharply since the fall-winter rise, according to Duchin. Last week, 1-2 King County residents died every day due to COVID-19. This compares to nine per day during the winter peak.
Over the past 14 days, 9% of deaths belong to 25- to 49-year-olds, compared to 2% overall during the outbreak.
Over the past 14 days, 27% of deaths are between the ages of 50-64, compared to 13% during the outbreak in general, Duchin said. The mortality rate for those over 65 has gone from 65% to 27% in the last two weeks.
Cases of covid
Duchin says the county has lived nearly two months without lowering the level of COVID-19. According to him, the recent increases are probably due to the reopening of activities, combined with the presence of more infectious variant strains.
As for cases, the highest rates are among young people aged 18 to 34, but each age group tends to increase, except those over 65 and those under 5.
Cases remain the highest in the southern and southeastern cities of King County, including Covington, Enumclaw, Auburn, Kent, Federal Way, Burien, Renton, Seatac and Tukwila.
“Over the past 14 days, these sites have experienced twice as many to triple the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths compared to north and central Seattle, Shoreline, Eastside and Vashon Island,” Duchin said.
Vaccination in King County
As of Thursday, 51 percent of King County residents over the age of 16 had received one or more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, Duchin said. He hopes the cases will decrease as more people are vaccinated, but until then he says it’s up to residents to mask social distance, avoid meeting people outside the home who aren’t vaccinated, and pay close attention to ventilation.
About 32% of all King County residents are fully vaccinated.
For those 65 and older, across all ethnic and racial groups, the county has exceeded the vaccination coverage rate of 75% or higher for one or more doses, Duchin said. Disparities are most important in groups 16 years of age or older. He hopes the numbers will improve with eligibility and as the county works to make vaccination events more easily accessible.