Coronavirus updates: State passes 260k cases; next steps in vaccine rollout announced
Updated at 9 a.m.
The Washington state Department of Health reported 2,191 new cases of COVID-19 and 64 deaths Wednesday.
Pierce County reported 243 cases Wednesday and nine new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 321 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Wednesday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 260,752 cases and 3,605 deaths. The case total includes 10,446 cases listed as probable. Those numbers are up from 258,561 cases and 3,541 deaths on Tuesday. DOH revises previous case and death counts daily.
Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
As of Dec. 18, the date with the most recent complete data, 115 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.
Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were 96 in late December.
Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,219), approximately 81.2% (990) were occupied Wednesday. Of those occupied ICU beds, 21.8% (266) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
WIAA changes course: Fall sports now up first, beginning in February
Updated at 9 a.m.
Fall sports could make their return next month across the state in Washington. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Executive Board met on Wednesday and voted to amend its season schedule.
Under the WIAA’s previous plan, basketball, wrestling and gymnastics were scheduled to start first. But athletic directors across the state have grown increasingly supportive of pushing indoor sports back, allowing lower-risk, outdoor sports to go first.
Traditional fall sports — football, cross country, golf, girls soccer, girls swim and dive, tennis, volleyball — are now also scheduled to begin Feb. 1., provided local school districts give their athletic departments the green light. The season is slated to run through March 20.
“The change in guidelines allow all traditional fall sports to be played in Phase 2 while we still do not have a clear pathway to the high risk indoor activities of basketball, competitive cheer and dance, and wrestling” said WIAA Executive Director Mick Hoffman in a statement. “With that in mind, moving fall sports to Season 1 will hopefully provide the most opportunities to participate.”
The WIAA’s board met following the most recent set of covid reopening metrics from the Governor’s office, which came Tuesday. The “Healthy Washington” plan begins Jan. 11, splitting progress into two phases and grouping counties into regions. King, Pierce and Snohomish counties are now grouped into a region together, while Thurston County joins Grays Harbor, Lewis and Pacific counties.
Here are the groups for next phase of COVID-19 vaccine in Washington state
Updated at 9 a.m.
The state Department of Health on Wednesday unveiled the next steps in the statewide COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
Phase 1B, the next priority, is broken into four tiers. Health officials said the state still needs to get through Phase 1A before moving on to 1B.
“It’s important to note that we are not moving into phase 1B right now. Our state is still in phase 1A of vaccinations, and will continue to be for the next few weeks,” the department said in Wednesday news release.
“Many pharmacies, clinics and hospitals are vaccinating people in 1A1 (tier 1), and others have moved to 1A2 (tier 2). While phase 1A is still the priority, we hope that the release of phase 1B guidance will help facilities, counties and individuals plan for the months ahead. Once we’re ready to start phase 1B, we will let our communities know how and where to get vaccine.”
In general, groups eligible for vaccination in phase 1B include:
Phase 1B1 - (Tier 1)
▪ All people 70 years and older
▪ People 50 years and older who live in multigenerational households
Phase 1B2 - (Tier 2)
▪ High risk critical workers 50 years and older who work in certain congregate settings: Agriculture; food processing; grocery stores; K-12 (teachers and school staff); child care; corrections, prisons, jails or detention facilities (staff); public transit; fire; law enforcement
Phase 1B3 - (Tier 3)
▪ People 16 years or older with two or more co-morbidities or underlying conditions
Phase 1B4 - (Tier 4)
▪ High-risk critical workers in certain congregate settings under 50 years
▪ People, staff and volunteers all ages in congregate living settings:
▪ Correctional facilities; group homes for people with disabilities; people experiencing homelessness that live in or access services in congregate settings
Additional details of phase 1B will be posted on the state DOH website.
Loss of smell can hint at how severe your COVID infection is, study finds
Updated at 9 a.m.
Loss of smell, clinically known as anosmia, is often one of the first symptoms felt by people infected with the coronavirus, and often one of the only ones to show up.
Now, a new study of about 2,500 COVID-19 patients found that a faulty nose affects mostly those with mild cases — nearly 86% — while only slightly affecting people with moderate illnesses (4.5%) and severe-to-critical cases (6.9%).
Although 95% of people included in the study redeemed their sense of smell by six months post infection, some experienced the symptom for longer.
The findings were published Wednesday in the Journal of Internal Medicine.
Researchers analyzed self-reported answers to an online questionnaire from 2,581 COVID-19 patients staying in 18 different European hospitals between March 22 and June 3. The majority of patients included in the study were white.
Most cases of anosmia were found in patients with mild COVID-19 cases — those without evidence of viral pneumonia or abnormally low oxygen levels — and appear to happen more frequently in young patients than older ones, according to the study.
The lack of smell lasted for an average of about 22 days, but nearly a quarter of affected patients said they didn’t get their sense back until about two months later. Over a third of patients reported smell recovery within two weeks of losing it.
The researchers aren’t sure why people with milder cases are more likely to lose their smell, but they say it might have something to do with their immune response.
Patients with mild COVID-19 infections might be better able to fight the virus locally, meaning the pathogen doesn’t spread much beyond the upper respiratory tract. This creates some inflammation that interferes with nearby cells that help process smells, blocking their ability to do their job.
People who lack their sense of smell for longer periods of time have likely suffered more “injuries” to their olfactory cells, the researchers said, but regeneration of these cells is possible, it just might take “several months.”
