OLYMPIA, Wash. – State Secretary of Health Umair Shah says Washington’s COVID-19 cases are beginning to decline and hospitalizations may soon follow.
“We are still at an incredibly high number when it comes to hospitalizations,” said Shah. “While it looks like it continues to, the trajectory, show that it’s on the upswing, it does appear that we’re starting to see some, hopefully, leveling off that’s beginning.”
Shah noted in a media briefing on Wednesday, February 2nd, that cases and hospitalizations in eastern Washington are still increasing, but those trends tend to lag behind the numbers for the western half of the state.
State Epidemiologist Scott Lindquist also quelled fears that the BA.2 Omicron subvariant will extend the current surge or create a new one.
“I don’t want us to chase our tails with reporting numbers of every subvariant because every variant has a subvariant,” said Lindquist. “I’m not so interested in this one unless it has clinical implication, which it has not shown to be clinically important at this time.”
Health officials also reiterated the importance of masking in public and the effectiveness of the available vaccines, noting the FDA’s recent full approval of the Moderna vaccine.