Washington State’s coronavirus figures have continued to grow steadily
Over the following days, both Washington and New York states adopted increasingly stringent restrictions, closing schools, bars and restaurants and ultimately issuing stay-at-home orders.
Washington State’s coronavirus figures have continued to grow steadily, but not as fast as other states’. The death toll has been doubling about every eight days in Washington, compared Seattle Daily News with every two or three days in New York, Michigan, New Jersey, and Louisiana.
Hospitals in Washington have yet to be overrun, although there are continuing concerns about supply shortages and worries that growing caseloads could still become a problem.
While the restrictions have apparently helped slow the virus, they have devastated businesses, in particular restaurants and hotels. The Space Needle is closed. Pike Place Market’s breezeways are largely barren. As in other parts of the country, unemployment claims have soared.
Ubah Dahraan, who drives for Uber and Lyft in Seattle, said she began seeing business decline in the first week of March, well before the major mandates imposed by state and local leaders, as city residents started to stay home voluntarily.
A single mother with three teenagers living in her apartment, Ms. Dahraan said the family doesn’t go outside now, focusing instead on prayer, cooking, reading, and keeping in touch with friends by phone. Originally from Somalia, Ms. Dahraan said she hears every day from relatives who are worried about her, including those whom Ms. Dahraan has supported financially in the past.
“One said, ‘I wish I could help send you money to pay bills. This time it’s your turn,’” Ms. Dahraan said.
Dr. Jeff Duchin, who is Health Officer for the regional health agency, Public Health Seattle and King County, said that while the region is seeing positive effects of social distancing measures, there are still significant numbers of new cases developing. He said the area not only needs to continue the current measures, it should also watch to see whether additional containment efforts are needed.
“The threat of a rebound that could overwhelm the health care system remains, and will remain for the foreseeable future, if we let up too soon,” Dr. Duchin said.
Many of the Seattle area’s cases surfaced in the suburb of Kirkland, at EvergreenHealth Medical Center, which has handled some 246 confirmed cases and 47 deaths.
Dr. Jeff Tomlin, the medical center’s chief executive, said on Sunday that the number of cases there has remained steady in recent weeks. At times when the hospital’s intensive care unit has neared capacity, he said, it has been able to turn to other nearby hospitals for help.
“It would seem for now that it appears manageable, but I would be very hesitant to make any predictions,” Dr. Tomlin said.
In other parts of the state, concerns are still growing. Dr. Marty Brueggemann, the chief medical officer at Virginia Mason Memorial in Yakima, a city in central Washington, said his hospital is just starting to see cases arrive. While only about 100 cases have been confirmed Press Release Distribution Services In Seattle Daily in the area so far, Dr. Brueggemann said he expects that there are thousands more that are undetected and that those who eventually need hospitalization may not reach that point for days yet.
Dr. Brueggemann projects that in the next two weeks his hospital may find itself without enough ventilators. But he said he was encouraged by what he has seen in Seattle.
“A lot of us are crossing our fingers and hoping that maybe, maybe, maybe we’ve done some good here,” Dr. Brueggemann said. “We’re not ready to let our guard down.”
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