Jefferson County had 1,108 new cases in January 2022, more than triple our previous high of 305 in September 2021. Of our 2,616 cases to date, about 42% were recorded in January 2022. There were 78,606 vaccine break-through cases in Washington as of Dec. 1, 2021. By Jan. 17, 2022 there were 203,348, according to state data. This is thought to reflect both Omicron’s heightened ability to infect as well as declining immunity among those who have been vaccinated but not yet boosted.
Hospital occupancy in Washington was 93.8% in late January (31.1% were COVID-19 patients). State ICU occupancy was 92.3% in late January, (32.0% COVID-19). Jefferson Healthcare Hospital occupancy continues to average 100% in both ICU and regular beds, and it lacks the staff needed to operate all of its beds. While Omicron tends to cause milder symptoms for many people, it’s straining the healthcare system because its extremely high rate of infection means the subset of infections requiring hospitalization is a huge number as well.
