Washington state Covid transmissions and hospitalizations hit all-time high

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/20/cov...fections-and-hospitalizations-hit-record.html

Washington state Covid transmissions and hospitalizations hit all-time high
Published Fri, Aug 20 202112:41 PM EDT
Rich Mendez

Key Points

The delta variant now makes up 98% of cases in Washington state.
Cases and hospitalizations have surged, but deaths have remained relatively flat since March.

Covid-19 transmissions and hospitalizations in Washington state are at an all-time high, according to the state’s Department of Health.

On July 8, Washington was recording a Covid infection prevalence of 1 in 588 residents. Just one month later, on Aug. 6, that number nearly quadrupled to a Covid infection prevalence of 1 in 156 residents, the department said Thursday. The most recent numbers surpassed those recorded during the state’s third wave of Covid infections in the winter of 2020.

Washington state is reporting a seven-day average of 38.5 daily new cases per 100,000 residents, ranking 22nd among all states, according to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.

Four counties had 14-day rates of new infections of 500 per 100,000 Washingtonians and five counties had rates of 300 to 500 per 100,000 residents. Sixteen counties had rates of 200 to 300 and 12 counties had 100 to 200. The delta variant makes up 98% of cases in the state...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/25/was...ls-are-running-out-of-icu-beds-and-staff.html

Washington state officials say they’re short on hospital staff and running out of ICU beds as Covid resurges
Published Wed, Aug 25 20213:52 PM EDTUpdated 3 Hours Ago
Rich Mendez

Key Points

The highly transmissible delta variant makes up 96% of cases in the state and has driven case counts to levels that are “as high as they’ve ever been in the state of Washington,” said Dr. Scott Lindquist, the state’s acting chief science officer.
Washington has no critical care beds available in hospitals across the state, putting non-Covid patients who need immediate care at risk.
The state is currently caring for 1,460 Covid patients in its hospitals, an all-time high for the state.

The Covid outbreak is so bad in Washington state that hospitals are running out of intensive care beds as the delta variant drives cases near record highs, state health officials said Wednesday.

At least one woman died while waiting for an ICU bed, said Dr. Steve Mitchell, medical director of the emergency department at the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

“This patient who was severely ill and unfortunately she actually did pass away in this small hospital when after eight hours of trying, we were unable to find an ICU bed that could help sustain her life at that point,” Mitchell said at a press conference with state health officials.

Another patient had to wait six hours for a lifesaving surgery, and one patient had to be transferred to a hospital in Idaho that had a bed available, he said.

“Sadly for large periods of time now, we have reached a point where there are actually no critical care beds that are able to accept those patients throughout our entire state,” he said. Hospitals are short on all levels of staff, from janitors to clinical staff, he added.

Cases are approaching all-time highs set in December, currently averaging about 3,200 cases per day over the last week, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Covid hospitalizations, however, have hit an all-time high at 1,460 Covid patients, officials said. In just the past month, 1,100 new Covid patients were hospitalized, and the number is doubling every 18 or 19 days, state officials said...