As COVID-19 trends in Washington state continue to peak at high levels – with some “slight” declines – state health officials said Wednesday morning that there was growing concern that more patients are getting sick with other respiratory viruses now that colder weather is approaching.

The state recorded a seven-day coronavirus case rate of 174.2 infections per 100,000 Washington residents during the last week of October, the most recent full data. The rate was down from about 200 cases per 100,000 in mid-October.

COVID-related hospitalizations also continue to slowly decline. At the end of October, the seven-day hospitalization rate was 9.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, against 10.6 per 100,000 the previous week. Around the same time last year, hospitalization rates were about the same, ranging from 9.3 to 10.9 per 100,000 people.

“When it comes to cases, especially hospitalizations, we are still seeing numbers higher than what we want to see,” Secretary of State for Health Dr Umair A. Shah said at the conference. Wednesday press release. “… This continues to be a difficult time in our condition.”

Hospital occupancy rates also remain high, which is common at this time of year, state epidemiologist Dr Scott Lindquist said.

“This is largely due to the start of our respiratory virus season,” he said.

This year, in addition to COVID, Lindquist said he was concerned about the flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which cause cold-like symptoms. King County, which tracks respiratory virus season every year, reported the percentage of tests positive for RSV at the end of October was much higher than levels prior to this time of year – 13% of tests are positive compared to the mean of less than 2%.

“I see patient after patient with respiratory viruses that are not COVID,” Lindquist said. “It really complicates the picture. “

Children tend to have “very high” coronavirus case rates, especially in northeast Washington, Lindquist added. At the end of October, the seven-day infection rate in children aged 4 to 10 was 224.37 cases per 100,000 people, about 22% higher than the general population.

Fortunately, said Lindquist, the state is seeing some increase in community immunity, both from vaccination and natural immunity. He referred to Washington’s current estimate of R-effective – the average number of new people a person infected with COVID-19 infects – which is around 1.07.

At the end of July, during the recent push for the delta variant, the R-efficient was around 2.02.

To reduce virus cases and hospitalizations, the R-effective must remain significantly below one for an “extended period,” the state health ministry said.

“Our community immunity is increasing, and now is the perfect time to get vaccinated,” Lindquist said.

Last week, the state surpassed the 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine – of which at least 600 were given to children aged 5 to 11 after federal approval of pediatric injections last week DOH Acting Assistant Secretary Michele Roberts said on Wednesday. . Roberts acknowledged a “significant” data delay for these shots, as it takes a few days to process vaccination figures, and said she expects the number to “increase rapidly” over the next few weeks.

Roberts reminded families to be patient as pediatric doses continue to roll out. It will likely take a few more weeks before the supply of childhood vaccines stabilizes, she said.

So far, more than 265,000 pediatric doses have been delivered to the state.

More than 79% of Washingtonians 12 and older have received at least their first dose.

Due to the high vaccination rates in Washington, the winter season could be a little different this year, said Lacy Fehrenbach, assistant secretary of state for the COVID response.

This year, state health officials are accepting small holiday gatherings, as long as attendees are vaccinated or have tested negative for COVID, a change from last year when they urged people to limit meetings to a single household.

“You can still get a J&J vaccine in the next few days and be fully protected in time for Thanksgiving or Hanukkah,” Fehrenbach said. “You can also start any round of vaccines… and be fully vaccinated by Christmas, Kwanzaa or New Years if you get vaccinated this week.”

For the unvaccinated, she recommended people bundle up and spend time outdoors. If you’re indoors, wear masks and open windows, she said.

“We are not out of this pandemic,” Shah said. “We still have far too many people who have tested positive, far too many people in hospital and far too many people dying in our condition from this virus. … This continues to be a race against this virus.