SEATTLE — The last two weeks have brought accelerated growth with cases of COVID-19 and hospitalization up across the state.
During a news briefing on Tuesday, State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy, urged everyone to stay vigilant.
"We're fatigued. We've already made a lot of sacrifices this year, but we can't give up," Lofy said.
While health officials are encouraging wearing masks, social distancing, and avoiding nonessential trips, transportation trends show some commutes are reaching pre-COVID traffic volumes.
Vehicle miles traveled have rebounded, according to INRIX, a company that analyzes transportation data.
In March, just after the first outbreak, driving dipped way down in the Seattle area. Over the summer, more people started traveling again, and the numbers continue to steadily climb.
Bob Pishue is a transportation analyst at INRIX, and he says the region is seeing the most traffic during the afternoon commute.
"On some roads, like those heavily congested roads like 405 south of Bellevue, kind of in that Renton 167 area, it looks an awful lot like it did pre-COVID or last year during this time," Pishue said.
Pishue does point out that the rise of remote work is evident in the traffic patterns with fewer commuters on the road in the morning.
On Tuesday, WSDOT's COVID data dashboard showed that highway traffic was down 16% compared to 2019.
However, Pishue says during afternoons, evenings, and weekends, there are routes where traffic is revving back up.
"More in the suburban areas, we are seeing still quite a bit of traffic congestion," he said.
With the increased traffic, health officials say continuing to follow safety protocols can help the state move in the right direction.
"Ideally, we should probably stop socializing for the next several weeks to try to slow down the disease that's rapidly spreading through our state," Lofy said.