Ten outbreaks of "flu like illnesses" had been reported at Seattle area nursing homes by Dec. 28.
And Seattle was having a worse "flu" winter than usual.
A Seattle suburb was the site of the first major outbreak, which occurred in a nursing home. Members of the staff also worked at other nursing homes and spread the virus there. Also, thousands of travelers were going back and forth between Seattle and China every day in December.
I wonder if the public health department has ever checked December and January flu swabs for coronavirus, or if they even would have been taking swabs of nursing home patients who appeared to have the flu.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/19-flu-deaths-confirmed-in-washington-state-so-far/
The latest update from health officials says flu activity in the state is elevated, with more than 1,800 patients reporting flu-like systems during the last week of December alone — the most recent period for which statewide data is available.
Nineteen deaths were confirmed across the state between September and December 2019, the first few months of the flu season. Two more have been confirmed in Snohomish County in the first week of January: a man in his 80s and a woman in her 30s.
Ten outbreaks of flu-like sickness also were reported at long-term-care facilities in the state in the 2019-2020 season, as of Dec. 28.
Of the people who have died so far this season, one was younger than 5 years old and another was between the ages of 5 and 17, state health officials report. Two adults between the ages of 30 and 49 have died, and the remaining 17 were people 50 or older.
