Steep rise in cases of Omicron variant 'slightly worrying' in Washington state
Omicron variant spreading in Washington State
Workers at the UW Medicine Virology Lab said about 15 percent of the positive covid cases sampled are confirmed to be Omicron.
SEATTLE - The Omicron variant is beginning to pick up speed in Washington State and health experts are monitoring it closely.
The UW Medicine Virology lab is sequencing positive COVID-19 cases, and now nearly 15% of the cases are confirmed to be Omicron.
"It’s not surprising because we’ve seen similar trends occur in other countries that have reported cases of Omicron, so we were expecting a rise in the number of cases. But the steepness of the rise was surprising when we saw it here," said Pavitra Roychoudhury, acting instructor at UW Medicine. "The fact that this curve is rising so rapidly just serves to sort of provide further evidence of that increased transmissibility."
Roychoudhury said it’s slightly worrying, considering just a day earlier the number of confirmed cases was only about half that figure.
The first known case of Omicron in the U.S. happened about two weeks ago, and now about three dozen states have confirmed cases.
RELATED: Scientists in Washington researching COVID-19 Omicron variant to help protect public
A new study out of South Africa finds that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine is about 33% effective against Omicron and offers 70% protection against hospitalization.
"In other countries that have reported it, it’s sort of has leveled off after a pretty steep increase, so how that’s going to play out in our state remains to be seen," said Roychoudhury. "How is it going to impact the number of cases and the number of hospitalizations? There’s interest in understanding, what’s the trajectory of this variant?"
Roychoudhury said the number of Omicron cases is still considered low in Washington state, but that it will be interesting to see how it competes with the predominant Delta variant.
"While the rise is concerning, this is not a cause for panic. We already know all the strategies that work against preventing the spread of COVID-19," said Roychoudhury.
The State Department of Health is expected to publish the latest report on COVID-19 sequencing and variants on Wednesday.
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