CDHD Anticipates Impending Omicron Spread in Community

Chelan-Douglas Health District is expecting an impending wave of Omicron to spread in the two county area over the course of the next four to eight weeks. The CDHD is projecting high rates of COVID infection throughout January and into early February.

The variant is considered more contagious than previous variants along with having a much shorter time frame for spread. Previous variants truncated over a six month period, whereas the Omicron wave is expected over the course of four to eight weeks. The Omicron variant has twice as many mutations as the Delta variant which points to the swift peak of the Omicron variant.

"This means we must plan for many of the people in our community to get sick at the same time. The biggest thing that we are concerned about right now is how Omicron will impact our health systems and critical infrastructure," said Luke Davies, Chelan-Douglas Health District.

CDHD is cautioning that a potential staffing shortage is on the horizon for North Central Washington businesses as Omicron is expected to spread rapidly.

"While this variant appears to be slightly less severe as measured by overall mortality rates and hospitalizations, it moves very quickly and we're going to see everyone sick at the same time," said Dr. James Wallace, interim health officer. "This is going to lead to staffing shortages for critical infrastructure such as hospitals, schools and public area utilities."

The state Department of Health is projecting that the statewide hospitalizations for the peak of the Omicron wave may be equal to or exceed seven times more than Delta related hospitalizations per day. The severity of the variant is less in comparison to the Delta variant, but Dr. Wallace notes Omicron could lead to more cases of re-infection and breakthrough cases for vaccinated people.

CDHD is urging the community to switch out former masks for N95 masks and to stay home if sick to prevent spread.