Covid hospitalizations are still going up in Washington state

Washington State Hospital Association says 600 people were hospitalized with Covid symptoms at end of last week. That is more than double the number in April.

To complicate matters, people who delayed elective surgeries are now also being scheduled. And they’re staying longer than necessary.

Dr. Steven Mitchell is with the Washington Medical Coordination Center that oversees hospital capacity across the state. He says normally, these patients would transition to a nursing care facility after their procedure. But that’s been a challenge.

“In quite a few of them there is space, there are beds within their different facilities, but they haven’t had the ability to hire the staff to properly care for them," Dr. Mitchell said.

Still, health officials are asking people not to delay medical care. And they’re urging everyone to step up their Covid precautions. This includes wearing masks, especially at indoor gatherings.

About 10% of the state's overall supply of hospital beds are currently occupied by Covid patients, according to the state Department of Health. Washington state is currently averaging 263 cases per 100,000 people.

But there are signs that the spread of Covid is flattening out in King County. New case counts dropped 14% last week over the previous week, according to Public Health - Seattle & King County. Currently, King County is experiencing 1,092 new cases each day. And hospitalizations across King County slightly dropped by 5% (a total of 16 daily hospitalizations).

In Seattle alone, however, there is an average of six hospitalizations each day, a 34% increase.