Washington's sick season appears to be starting early
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Winter may be months away, but cold season in Washington doesn't seem to be waiting.
Driving the news: Emergency room visits for respiratory illnesses are rising as October begins, while COVID is also showing up increasingly in wastewater and hospitals, according to state data.
- Flu typically peaks between December and February, making the early uptick noteworthy.
By the numbers: Acute respiratory illnesses accounted for 11% of Washington ER visits in the week ending Sept. 26, up from 8.2% three weeks earlier, according to the Washington Department of Health's respiratory illness data.
Stunning stat: There were 233 ER visits associated with influenza in King County in the week ending Sept. 19, compared with 31 during the same week last year, KUOW reported, citing city and county data.
Meanwhile, COVID is sending signals of its own, with several Seattle-area wastewater sites reporting high or very high levels of the virus as of Sept. 23, per state data.
- COVID hospital use has also risen from its late-summer lows, state data shows.
The big picture: Washington and Oregon appear to be running ahead of much of the country, with the CDC still rating overall respiratory illness as very low nationally and flu activity as low.
What to do: Health officials recommend staying up to date on flu and COVID vaccinations, staying home when you're sick and taking added precautions around people at higher risk of severe illness.
The bottom line: If it feels like sick season started early this year, the numbers suggest you're not wrong.