BA.5 omicron variant appears to have crested in King County, Duchin says

KING COUNTY, Wash. — Dr. Jeff Duchin of Public Health — Seattle & King County tweeted on Monday that the BA.5 omicron variant, believed to be the most contagious strain to date, appears to have crested in King County.

Duchin said the reported cases have been slowly declining since late May, although its peak remains higher than all strains’ past peaks, except omicron, when unreported cases were considered.

According to the health department’s dashboard, new COVID-19 cases have dropped to 174.1 per 100,000 residents in the past seven days.

New COVID-19 hospital admissions are at 5.2 per 100,000 residents in the past seven days.

Duchin said hospitalizations are also trending down.

As of Monday, Aug. 8, the county has had 496,690 total cases and 3,016 deaths.

The county is averaging 562 daily cases, a 21% decrease in the last seven days from the seven days prior, according to the county’s COVID-19 summary dashboard.

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