CORONAVIRUS: West Seattle and countywide trends, one month post-restrictions

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

It’s now been about a month since many pandemic restrictions, particularly regarding masks, lifted. Weekend’s end means our weekly check of where key local numbers stand, via the Public Health – Seattle/King County dashboard. It shows COVID cases up for a third week, with hospitalizations also rising but deaths continuing to drop:

*36 percent more cases countywide in the past week than the week before
*Currently averaging 384 new daily cases countywide (up from 281 when we checked a week ago)

*52 percent more hospitalizations countywide in the past week than the week before
*Currently averaging 5 new hospitalizations daily (up from 3 a week ago)

*63 percent fewer deaths countywide in the past two weeks than the two weeks before (the dashboard doesn’t offer a one-week increment)
*Currently averaging 1 death daily (down from 2 a week ago)

For West Seattle, we have two-week comparisons (these are the combined totals from two “health reporting areas,” labeled West Seattle and Delridge):
*228 cases between 3/21 and 4/4, up from 126 between 3/6 and 3/20
*3 hospitalizations between 3/21 and 4/4, up from 2 between 3/6 and 3/20
*No deaths between 3/21 and 4/4, unchanged from between 3/6 and 3/20

And checking vaccination rates:
*80.6 percent of all King County residents have completed the series (up .2% from a week ago)
*85.3 percent of all King County residents ages 5 and up have completed the series (up .1% from a week ago)

*In West Seattle, here are the zip-code vaccination rates for ages 5 and up (note that 98106 and 98146 are not entirely within WS):
98106 – 87.5% (unchanged from a week earlier)
98116 – 92.4% (up .2% from a week earlier)
98126 – 83.2% (up .2% from a week earlier)
98136 – 93.2% (unchanged from a week earlier)
98146 – 82.5% (up .3% from a week earlier)

VACCINATION AND TESTING, UPDATED HOURS: No pop-up clinics announced recently, you can still find vaccination locations via this statewide lookup. If you want to get tested and don’t have a kit at home, public testing sites include the city-supported site at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex (2801 SW Thistle, 9 am-5:30 pm Mondays-Saturdays), the Curative kiosk at Don Armeni Boat Ramp (1220 Harbor SW, 9 am-3 pm Monday-Friday), and the Curative van at Summit Atlas (35th/Roxbury, but it’s closed this week).

Jay West April 11, 2022 (10:14 am)

There is a big uptick in “cold like illnesses” in my kids school again to go with that rising case count and rising hospitalizations. It looks like the BA2 wave is truly here.

Molly April 11, 2022 (3:47 pm)

Most of those *are* colds. It has been going through many toddlers/younger kids, and knowing some of them and that they’ve tested, it’s not COVID.
- WS Res April 12, 2022 (8:48 am)
  
  So you know “some” of them, and thus conclude that “most” of them are colds. I’m not sure I agree 100% with your police work there, Lou.

moredetail April 11, 2022 (11:46 am)

I’d be interested in seeing your stats broken down by vaccination status—how many people are infected who have been vaccinated, versus those who test positive and aren’t vaccinated.

Jay West April 11, 2022 (3:24 pm)

Here’s the breakdown of 3 vs 4 vaccines in Israel against Omicron published in the New England Journal of Medicine. It looks like vaccinated people still get Omicron. Just like what we observed here with the last wave. They might have a less serious course of illness than they otherwise would have. People had a little boost in protection against infection after the 4th dose for a few weeks only, but had some protection against severe illness that lasted longer. Take a look for yourself. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2201570

PSPS April 11, 2022 (12:50 pm)

Philadelphia reverted to its mask mandate today (Monday) because the new surge is hitting them now. I’ve given up on trying to reason with the “I’m done with the virus” crowd. They seem to be in control of this now for political expediency with the mid-terms coming up. By the way, the vaccination rates being quoted here are misleading. It says “80.6 percent of all King County residents have completed the series (up .2% from a week ago.)” That depends on how you define “the series.” The fact is that only 48% of all King County residents have received the booster.

Bronson April 12, 2022 (7:30 am)

We can’t protect people from failing to protect themselves. Vaccines and boosters are readily available, as are medical and N95 masks for those unable to be vaccinated. The “done with the virus” crowd isn’t pretending it doesn’t exist. On the contrary, most acknowledge it exists, will always exist, and are choosing to understand the risks and live with them (or die or become seriously ill in higher numbers if unvaccinated). That is their choice. Mask adoption has never been universal and as such, mask mandates accomplish little. Delta, Omicron, BA2….they all got here with mask mandates. Time to end the mandates and any thought of bringing them back.
WS Res April 12, 2022 (9:08 am)

The fact is that only 48% of all King County residents have received the booster. Yikes. I am sitting here on day two of sweats/chills, body pain, fatigue, etc. after getting booster #2, and I’m so f—ing pissed at people who could have helped get this under control if we’d all pulled together, but thought “it’s not my problem” or “it’s a conspiracy” and didn’t bother. Not to mention necro-capitalism. Violet Blue’s comment that this plague has made clear how accurate zombie movies are – the danger is your neighbors, and your boss is still going to demand you show up at your shift on time – sadly resonates all too well.

rob April 11, 2022 (9:23 pm)

hey people just face it no mater how hard we try your going to get it look at all the public figures now getting it even i got it . lasted for a few days and gone. life goes on. The sky still isn’t falling