KING COUNTY, Wash. — New COVID-19 cases have been dropping in King County since Jan. 10, but the county’s health officer said the pandemic isn’t over yet.
“For right now, there’s still a whole lot of COVID-19 going on,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin of Public Health - Seattle & King County.
Duchin said Thursday that King County is now averaging 2,200 new cases each day, down from 6,400 on Jan. 10.
He said the next question is whether the omicron subvariant, known as BA2, will somehow slow the decline.
“It’s not clear what the impact of BA2 will be on the omicron surge, whether it will prolong its tail, or perhaps lead to a second peak, or perhaps have no detectable impact at all,” Duchin said.
With lots of people still getting COVID, home tests remain important.
So far, health officials with the state of Washington say they have shipped 1.4 million free tests.
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The U.S. Postal Service has a bigger job, delivering half a billion free tests to start.
“We are continuing to provide the resources necessary for people in the United States to keep themselves safe,” Adm. Rachel Levine, U.S. assistant secretary for health, told KIRO 7 last week.
David Yao, a local postal union leader, said USPS is hiring temporary workers at a facility in Tukwila to handle tests for the Northwest.
“It’s a huge organizational challenge and the Postal Service has never done anything like this,” Yao said.
It comes as postal workers try to keep up with the continued high demand for packages and cover for colleagues out sick.
“It’s a struggle, people are working long hours,” he said.
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