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Health officials warn of Covid cases linked to households, social gatherings
Health officials say they are concerned about the peak in Washington state coronavirus cases linked to households and gatherings.
SEATTLE – A new report from King County attempts to answer this question: Where do people get COVID-19?
For the first time, King County health officials are releasing information where people expect to have been exposed to the virus in the weeks leading up to their illness.
Throughout the pandemic, health officials have asked people who are COVID-positive about their activities up to two weeks before they fall ill. King County health official Dr Jeff Duchin warned they cannot always determine transmission with certainty, but most people trace the likely exposure to their own homes, where 35% of cases can have been infected by another HIV-positive person at home.
COVID-19 outbreak at North Bend nursing home
23 residents and 23 staff have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Regency North Bend nursing facility. Two residents linked to the epidemic have died.
Thirty-one percent of people went to social gatherings in the two weeks before testing positive. Essential and non-healthcare workers also had high percentages of exposure.
Comparing data for the entire pandemic to the past two months of cases, a clearer picture emerges of what is contributing to the record peaks the county is seeing. Household exposure rose from 35 to 41 percent, while people who said they had been to community and social gatherings jumped from 31 to 39 percent. Non-health workplaces have also seen an increase, a sign that more people are returning to a physical workplace and engaging with other people.
Duchin said hospitalizations in King County were increasing three to four times a day, and positive cases had doubled in about two weeks.
“I’m very worried, even scared of what Thanksgiving is going to do to these numbers,” he said. “I think it’s possible to see a dramatic increase, even beyond the numbers we’re seeing now in both hospitalizations and subsequently deaths.
The King County report also confirmed that communities of color are disproportionately affected by the spread of COVID-19. He also revealed that in areas with higher levels of minorities, people were more likely to catch COVID-19 at home or at work, while predominantly white areas had higher exposure levels during social and community gatherings.
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