SEATTLE — Certainly, 2020 will be remembered as a Christmas like no other. The year has been marked by fear and loss in the coronavirus pandemic, and that has continued into the holiday season.
Even as families opened presents Christmas Day, statewide, adult ICU beds were about 80% full on Friday, and ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients were at 19.9%, according to data from the Washington Department of Health. And that meant the work continued for doctors and nurses caring for patients.
Dr. Paul Pottinger, a professor of Infectious Diseases at UW Medicine, has been seeing coronavirus patients for months now. He reflected on the year via Zoom, sitting in front of his Christmas tree.
“We have adapted our family traditions,” he said. “…We were able to see our family, we just had to do it over Zoom.”
That was an experience many families shared this Christmas, a virtual holiday to slow the spread of the virus. Pottinger said he was still glad for some time to celebrate, even if it felt different from a normal year.
COVID-19 testing in King County and Seattle sat quiet on Friday, an odd sight without the now-customary lines of folks waiting for nasal swabs.
But healthcare workers and public officials worry about what’s to come – a much-discussed post holiday surge from those that bent or ignored advice on gatherings and travel.
“We fully expect to see another increase in cases,” said Pottinger. “And that’s a problem for us in healthcare, because our hospitals are so stressed, so strained, our capacity is so limited already. We do worry about our ability to deliver the highest quality of care to everyone that needs it.”
Still – there is good news is on the horizon.
“Hope is coming,” Pottinger said. “The Christmas present we’ve all been waiting for, frankly – it’s the vaccine. And it is coming soon.”
The first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are already being administered to frontline healthcare workers in Washington state. But a dark winter is still ahead, as the pandemic rages on. So Pottinger asked people to remain vigilant – keep your distance, avoid gatherings, and mask up.
“The real gift those in the community can give to us in healthcare is to take care of yourself,” he said. “If you’re safe and healthy, it means we can stay safe and healthy to care for the whole community.”