COVID Cases Seeing Plateau in Decline

Coronavirus cases in Washington state have been slowly declining for about two months…but that seems to have come to an end, according to Washington State Health Department Secretary Dr. John Wiesman.

"Clearly we have seen a stop in the decrease, and a plateau which is pretty concerning to me. Certainly at this time of the year as people are starting to spend a little less time outdoors and more time indoors."

Dr. Wiesman also noted that there has been an environment over the past month that could be contributing.

"How much of this is due to Labor Day activities or having spent more time indoors with the recent smoke, students coming back to universities. I think that all of these things are in the mix. I don't think we really know for sure how much any of those individual pieces might be contributing to that."

The Health Department also notes that the indefinite pause of moving to the next phases of re-opening the state will remain in place.

The other concern is that we are entering flu season which could provide a challenge for the health care system.