Is the pandemic over?
President Biden replied “yes” Sunday night on 60 Minutes on CBS. But, local health experts and the governor's office say not so fast.
Go to Seattle's historic Pike Place Market and you'll see a mix of people taking covid precautions, like wearing masks and social distancing.
“Just get back out into the world and push a little bit past that fear while staying safe,” Mallory Anzivino of Seattle stated.
President Biden said: "The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with covid. We're still doing a lot of work on it... But the pandemic is over."
People KOMO talked to on Monday seem to be split about the perspective.
“I think most people kind of felt that way this past summer. We have two kids, they have childcare. They used to have mask policies and now that’s kind of fallen to the wayside,” said Eric Hyrkas while visiting Seattle.
“Covid’s definitely not over and it kind of feels a little like he’s pushing that way because he’s trying to direct our economy back up into where it could be so it feels a little like jumping the gun,” Anzivino added.
New numbers from the CDC show our state is in a good place when it comes to community spread levels. Most counties are considered 'low', meaning there have been fewer than 10 hospital admissions per 100,000 people in a week.
“We’re definitely better than we were this time last year even,” Barn Anzivino said.
Though IHME's latest projections say nearly 530 more people in the state could die from covid by the new year.
“I feel like the government’s not really helping us. It’s just us scrambling to figure out what is the best for us,” Parisa Modjarrad explained.
The state department of health provided the following statement Monday:
“DOH recognizes the state is on the road to recovery, but this is not the end of the Covid-19 response in Washington. As individuals adapt their personal behaviors to the Covid-19 risk, we have more prevention tools now through testing, vaccination, boosters, masking and therapeutics at our disposal. We feel confident as we transition into recovery. Staying up to date on all vaccines is the best way to protect yourself and those around you.
“Thankfully, Washingtonians continue to work together to fight this virus by using the tools available to them. Doh remains committed to supporting the community and all of your efforts as our work continues.”
The governor's office added:
“As the governor announced earlier this month, the tools available to us to prevent serious illness, including the broad availability of vaccines to adults and young children, are allowing us to wind down the few remaining emergency measures still in place. Public health officials are clear that Covid-19 is still a deadly disease that people need to take precautions against, and we didn’t hear anything from the president to suggest that has changed at all.”
KOMO reached out to a covid projectionist with UW to ask how those projections play into when the pandemic could end and also how we measure that in Washington.
We'll let you know when we hear back.