It can be hard to understand where we are with the COVID-19 pandemic recently. On one hand, it’s great that many people are getting vaccinated in our community. That’s bringing so much hope and relief as it helps reduce infections, hospitalizations and deaths.
On the other hand, not everyone is vaccinated yet, and we are hearing about increases in cases and increases in new coronavirus “variants” that are more contagious.
Dr. Jeff Duchin reflects on the pandemic–marking one year since the first cases of COVID-19 were identified in our community. “We have many reasons to be encouraged as a community. Although this has been a dreadful year in many ways, King County and our region has, until this point, weathered this storm relatively well compared to most of the rest of the country.”
A variant strain of the coronavirus that was first identified in South Africa has been detected in King County. The B.1.351 variant was identified through genomic sequencing at the UW Medicine Virology Laboratory on Feb. 22, 2021, from a test sample originating in King County.
A new report from Public Health—Seattle & King County finds that death rates increased in 2020 for common causes of death in King County, and not only those due to COVID-19. Death rates were higher for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, unintentional injury, drowning, and homicide.
The COVID-19 variant, known as B117, has been found in Washington state. The variant spreads in the same ways as other COVID-19 strains, it’s just better at it.
