COVID cases, hospitalizations dropping in Western WA

Coronavirus cases are sharply declining in Western Washington and hospitalizations are showing signs of slowing as the surge of omicron cases that has stressed hospitals could be subsiding, health officials say.

According to the state Department of Health’s most recent complete data, Washington recorded a seven-day average of about 1,543 infections per 100,000 people in mid-January. A week prior, the state’s average was about 1,720 per 100,000.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are still rising statewide, but there are signs the numbers are beginning to level off, particularly in Western Washington, said state Secretary of Health Dr. Umair A. Shah.

“This is what I affectionately call a light at the end of the tunnel,” state epidemiologist Dr. Scott Lindquist said Wednesday.

With no evidence of any new variants circulating in the state or an increase in cases, Lindquist said he’s comfortable categorizing the trend as a definite decrease in cases rather than a blip in numbers.