Washington Hospital Association: Omicron Variant of COVID-19 is in U.S.

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is at the top of the agenda for health experts in Washington.

State Hospital Association CEO Cassie Sauer said as much while hosting a news briefing with a panel Monday.

“I think all of our panelists and I agree wholeheartedly that Omicron is in the US," said Sauer. "I think there’s almost no chance that it’s not.”

Sauer said COVID-19 hospitalizations are continuing on a downward trend in the state, but noted that all efforts to fight off the Delta variant could be lost if the Omicron variant leads to a new spread of the virus.

According to Sauer, the daily average of confirmed COVID hospitalizations as of Monday was at 694, down from 806 a week ago, and down from 1,013 daily average a month ago.

She did caution that ventilator use is up with the seven day average at 117, compared with last week’s average of 110.

Sauer said the the state is still seeing about 10-15 hospitalized COVID deaths on average a day.

All of the panelists Monday agreed the use of high end N95 masks would be effective in continuing the fight against COVID-19.

They were also in agreement that booster shots, which have become available to all adults in the past week or so, should be sought out by all people who have been vaccinated to this point.

Greg Repetti, President of MultiCare Deaconess and Valley Hospital in Spokane, spoke about the disparity between the east and west side of the state for vaccinations.

"(We need to) really work hard on vaccines and vaccine boosters," said Repetti. "I mean, let's face it, eastern Washington lagged western Washington, and continues to lag western Washington in vaccination."

One exception to the east and west side split is Chelan County, which ranks 6th in the state for percentage of vaccinated people.

The “omicron” variant has been confirmed in at least 14 counties. It has already led to travel restrictions in some countries, but there are no reported cases in the United States yet.