Skagit County moves to 'Substantial' COVID transmission level

Skagit County moves to 'substantial' COVID transmission level, up from 'moderate' last week

SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. - Skagit County has moved to a "Substantial" COVID transmission level Thursday, up from "Moderate" last week.

Health officials say Skagit County's case rate has increased by 111%, and the hospitalization rate has increased by 50% in the last seven days. Fortunately, no new COVID related deaths in the county have been reported this week.

According to Skagit County Health, the state of Washington's dominant strain of COVID-19 is BA.2, a highly contagious subvariant of the Omicron variant. At this time, there is no data indicating that Skagit County's recent spike in cases is related to the BA.2 subvariant.

Preliminary data suggests that BA.2 causes symptoms that are more mild compared to other variants and strains of COVID-19, however, people could still require hospitalization and potentially die from infection.

Public Health is urging people in Skagit County to take extra precaution during this time. According to Public Health, the best protection from COVID-19 is to get vaccinated and boosted, get tested before gathering and wear a mask.