OLYMPIA — As Washington’s COVID-19 state of emergency ends, so do some resources with the pandemic.
Starting Thursday, Washington state’s coronavirus response online page, which houses the state’s vaccine locator, vaccine information and data for businesses, employers and fitness service providers, will be removed. Those who stop at coronavirus. wa. gov will now be redirected to the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 contact page, which has many of the same data.
At the height of the pandemic, the state’s coronavirus response online page featured public fitness data, as well as resources from other state agencies, such as recommendations on safety, workers’ rights, food assistance and intellectual fitness assistance.
But as the emergency order ends and internet traffic declines, the state fitness branch said it’s time to simplify it. While public fitness content on the site will be transferred to the Ministry of Health’s website, other data about the pandemic will be transferred to the websites of state agencies.
Knowledge of COVID-19 will continue to exist on the dashboard of the Ministry of Health.
State fitness officials have said for months that they pledged to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, even as the state of emergency has ended.
At a press conference last month, Health Secretary Dr. Umair Shah told reporters that the state is in a much better position than it was two years ago, but there were still uncertainties ahead.
Despite the end of the state of emergency, the Ministry of Health requires the use of masks in physical care services, long-term care services and correctional services.
Health officials continue to get everyone vaccinated against COVID-19 and influenza, as well as influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and COVID-19 continue to spread.
COVID-19 cases in Washington and Spokane County remained low Tuesday, even though the average number of 100,000 cases in the state still sits in the highest “substantial” category at the moment. The two-week average was 53 cases out of 100,000 more people. In the two weeks ending November 14, the most data available to date. The state is at its highest in the “moderate” category, averaging 10 to 49 cases out of 100,000.
Hospital cases of COVID-19 are also low, with around 5% of national hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.
In Spokane County, 290 new cases were reported between Nov. 21 and Nov. 27. One death was reported last week.
Since September, the countywide case count has declined and remained robust with between 250 and 350 new cases reported per week. That’s particularly lower than Spokane County’s peak last winter, when thousands of cases were reported weekly.
Hospitalizations also remain low. The week ending November 12, which is the most recent era for which information is available, 8 new COVID-19 patients were hospitalized. Over the past two months, six to 8 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized every week, down from peaks of up to 135 people hospitalized every week in 2021.
COVID-19 deaths have also remained low, however, the county still reports one death consistent with the week. However, there were five deaths in the week ending Oct. 15. Spokane County’s peak in September 2021, when another forty-five people died from COVID-19 in one week.
More information about instances in Spokane can be found in the Spokane Regional Health District COVID-19 data dashboard in covid. srhd. org/topics/spokane-county-case-data.
Laurel Demkovich’s reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part through Report for America and members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished through other organizations to obtain a Creative Commons license. For more information, please contact the managing editor of our newspaper.