Hospitals in Snohomish County are seeing a surge of ill people needing treatment for COVID-19 as the delta variant drives up new cases to the second-highest level so far since the pandemic began in early 2020, a virtual press conference was told Tuesday.
The rate of new COVID cases during the last two weeks now stands at 446 per 100,000 people, said Dr. Chris Spitters, Health Officer for the Snohomish Health District.
About 15,000 tests for COVID were performed in the community last week, with roughly 15% coming back positive – a level not seen since April 2020, when the virus was just beginning to infect people here.
COVID hospitalizations are running close to 100 people a day. That hasn’t happened since before vaccines became widely available in the spring, Dr. Spitters said.
“Without the benefits of vaccination afforded to the community by the roughly half million Snohomish County residents who have lent their arm to the effort, our currently stressed health care system would be completely overwhelmed,” he added.
Dr. Jay Cook, Chief Medical Officer at Providence Regional Medical Center, said the Everett hospital admitted more than 300 people diagnosed with COVID during August, averaging about 10 new patients each day.
Three quarters of those people were not vaccinated, he said. The same was true of 96% of those COVID patients who were so ill they required admission to intensive care, Dr. Cook said.
The hospital is close to capacity, as are many others around the state, he added.
Both doctors urged people to get vaccinated if they haven’t done so already, to continue wearing masks indoors where the virus is known to spread most easily, and to avoid crowds.
Without intervention, the virus will continue to spread and cases to climb, perhaps to new highs, the press conference was told.
“I want to again plead to the 200,000 eligible and yet still unvaccinated individuals in the community to go get your vaccination series started as soon as possible, if not today,” Dr. Spitters said. “The vast majority of the bad news you are hearing about COVID and the delta strain is affecting unvaccinated people. At this point, many community pharmacies are accepting same-day or even walk-in appointments. If not today, then set a date soon by when you will do it.”
Watch a video of the full briefing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYTxQSB9Y0Y
The best time to get your COVID-19 shot is today.
Thanks to the 6500+ people who were vaccinated last week, 71% of Snohomish County is now protected against the threat of serious illness from COVID. To find out where you can get your free shot, go here: https://www.snohd.org/564/COVID-Vaccine-Info
Stop by and get your free COVID-19 shot! Community vaccination clinics are being offered this week in the following locations:
- Park Place Middle, Sept 1, 4PM-7PM
- Evergreen State Fair, Sept 3-5, 11AM-3PM
- Arlington Farmers Market, Sept 4, 10AM-2PM
- Everett Farmers Market, Sept 5, 10:30AM-3:00PM
Click here for more information, or to pre-register.
The emergency proclamation preventing shut-off of water, electricity or natural gas services is slated to end Sept. 30. It is among the many emergency measures enacted by Gov. Jay Inslee in the wake of COVID-19.
State leaders and utility operators estimate more than 500,000 Washingtonians have overdue bills that could result in services shutting off. They urge customers to contact their utilities as soon as possible to make a plan to keep their services on.
Information for customers is available at commerce.wa.gov/utility-assistance in 36 languages.
“This moratorium has provided hundreds of thousands of Washington families much-needed peace of mind during the pandemic, and now utility companies are eager and ready to help their customers make a plan that keeps their services on,” Inslee said. “I urge people make that call as soon as they can. That call can give a family one less thing to worry about as fall and winter approaches.”
Customers looking for help in paying their electric bills can call the Snohomish County PUD’s Customer Service at 425-783-1000. For more information on the PUD’s Income-Qualified Assistance Program, customers can click here.
Information on emergency rental assistance and help with utilities in Snohomish County also is available here.
Snohomish Health District Health Officer Dr. Chris Spitters and Chief Medical Officer for Providence Regional Medical Center Dr. James Cook provide updates on the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYTxQSB9Y0Y
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