Even after 1 million deaths, covid fight isn't over
By The Herald Editorial Board
Monday, the United States hit its expected — and likely underestimated — milestone of 1 million deaths caused by the covid-19 virus since the disease’s first official diagnosis was reported for a Snohomish County man who was treated in late January 2020 at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.
The man, then 35, was treated for about two weeks and sent home.
So many more were not as fortunate.
Of those 1 million deaths, more than 12,800 deaths have been recorded among Washington state residents during the course of the pandemic. The death toll in Snohomish County, as of May 13, was listed as 1,146. And very few individuals can claim to have known no one who has died because of covid or whose family and friends have not felt serious impacts from the pandemic.
And yet, covid’s various counts — case rates, hospitalizations and deaths — continue to tick away. Even as the worst of the initial omicron variant’s wave has ebbed, a new sub-variant of omicron is showing signs of resurgence. While far from the worst of omicron’s initial surge in mid-January, covid case rates are increasing in several regions of the U.S., including Washington and Oregon, with 90,000 new cases reported each day nationwide, a 60 percent increase in the last two weeks, The New York Times reported Monday.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-even-after-1-million-deaths-covid-fight-isnt-over/