COVID-19 Update, September 28, 2020

Good afternoon! The state Department of Health (http://www.doh.wa.gov/) wants to keep you as informed as possible about continuing developments surrounding COVID-19 as well as guidance and resources you can share with employees, clients, or customers.

Winter is coming
COVID-19 spreads easily from person to person in crowded indoor spaces—especially if we hang out for a long period of time and talk. We have learned this summer that small outdoor gatherings are much safer than indoor gatherings.

But we are about to get chilly. We need to start thinking about how we will see our friends and family, stay warm and dry, and protect ourselves from COVID-19.

Every bit of risk reduction matters. When our risk goes up in one way, like because the kids return to school, or we gather with some friends indoors, we need to do everything we can to reduce our risk in other ways.

• Get your flu shot. In the fall and winter we spend more time in crowded indoor places, and that’s why fall and winter are traditionally cold and flu season. With flu, at least we have a vaccination to help reduce our risk. Get your flu shot and take one thing off your worry list. There’s no vaccine for the common cold, but all that hand washing and physical distancing we are doing will help protect us from colds as well as from COVID-19.
• Get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms. Not sure if you have a cold or the flu or COVID-19? Don’t let cold and flu season discourage you from getting tested for COVID-19. If you have a new cough or fever or other COVID-19 symptoms, contact your health care provider and see how you can get tested for COVID-19. Oh, and if you are really unlucky, you can have flu and COVID-19 at the same time. Doesn’t that sound miserable? (Get your flu shot!)
• Stay outdoors as much as possible. Consider how you and a few of your friends can get together outdoors even in cold or rainy weather. Maybe you can meet at a park with a large covered area like a gazebo. Do you or your friends have a large porch or outdoor area you can protect with a tarp? Brainstorm outdoor activities you can do with a good raincoat and a thermos full of a hot beverage. Apple picking? Pumpkin patch? Watch the salmon spawn?
• Keep the air fresh and moving. When you do come inside with others who are not typically part of your household, open the windows and make sure you keep outdoor air coming inside and moving around. This helps dilute and disperse any virus that anyone may be exhaling. Wear cozy sweaters, wrap yourself in a blanket, and keep the air fresh.
• Keep your distance. As you think of areas to stay warm with a friend or two, be sure that these areas allow you to stay at least six feet away from people who are not a part of your household. How big is that gazebo at the park? How many people can you fit on your deck and still be six feet apart and out of the rain? How many people can reasonably sit six feet apart in your living room?
• Cover your face. If you are going to bring people into your home, insist on cloth face coverings as much as possible. There is ever increasing evidence that a combination of physical distancing and wearing cloth face coverings protects us and our loved ones.

Numbers. The latest numbers are on our webpage. As of 11:59 p.m. on September 26, 86,269 people in Washington have tested positive for COVID-19. Of those, 7,455 people had to be hospitalized, and 2,100 people (or 2.4%) have died of the disease. More COVID-19 data can be found on the DOH website and in the state’s risk assessment dashboard.

Practice compassion. Keep the number of people you see in person very small. Don’t forget to call or text folks you haven’t been able to see to say hello and keep in touch! Social connection helps all of us stay happy and healthy!


​Don't forget your flu shot!
Lauren

 


Would you like to subscribe to this update? You can do so here.
Contact: Lauren Jenks, Department of Health Assistant Secretary, 360-259-0374
Department of Health call center: Call 1-800-525-0127 and press # from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday - Friday, and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday - Sunday.


Please check our website for the most up-to-date info on Washington’s response to COVID-19 at www.doh.wa.gov/coronavirus. 

A survivor’s tale

Washington State Department of Health

Aug 26 · 
Charlotte* doesn’t remember much of March. She doesn’t even remember getting the positive COVID-19 test. She remembers thinking maybe she was having allergies in the beginning of March, but by the end of that week she “got really sick really fast.”

When Charlotte started having trouble breathing, she was taken by ambulance to Swedish Hospital and put in isolation. When she arrived at the hospital, her breathing was so bad that she couldn’t even blow out a candle.
Symptoms of COVID-19 include things like body aches, fever and chills.

Charlotte lives in King County. She’s in her early 40s and has no underlying health conditions. Since she wasn’t considered to be at high risk for getting seriously ill with COVID-19, she wasn’t too concerned about getting it. That all changed quickly.

Shortly after Charlotte got sick, her husband and both her kids also got COVID-19. Like most people, her husband and kids had mild illness and recovered just fine in about two weeks. Mild illness can be pretty miserable though. Charlotte’s husband had a high fever and severe body aches which had him in bed for almost a week.

Along with her breathing troubles, Charlotte had a low-grade fever, diarrhea, lost her sense of taste and smell, and had body aches that she described as much, much worse than those you might get with the flu. Her recovery has had ups and downs, but the most severe symptoms lingered about a month. Months later, she is better, and working again, but still recovering. Even now, she finds herself completely exhausted by the end of her work day.