Data Snapshot
UW Medicine Hospitals:
King County: The county reported 388 new positive cases and 1 new deaths on Jan. 27.
Washington: The state reported 291,701 cases and 4,211 deaths as of Jan. 26.
United States: The CDC reports 25,301,166 cases and 423,519 deaths as of Jan. 27.
Global: WHO reports 100,200,107 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2,158,761 deaths as of Jan. 28.
Numbers update frequently, please follow links for most up-to-date numbers.
UW Medicine COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Update
Total Vaccine Doses Administered: 54,050
- Total first dose: 41,909
- Total second dose: 12,141
As of Jan. 27, 2021.
COVID-19 Literature Report
COVID-19 Literature Situation Report is a daily (M-F) newsletter put together by the Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness that provides a succinct summary of the latest scientific literature related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key Takeaways: COVID-19 Literature Situation Report Jan. 26, 2021
- An outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 associated with a Florida high school wrestling tournament in December 2020 had an attack rate of at least 30% and a secondary attack rate of at least 9%. Among contacts, household members had the highest attack rate (at least 30%) and test positivity rate (60%). More.
- Limited COVID-19 spread was observed from August to November 2020 in 17 rural K-12 schools in Wood County, Wisconsin, that reopened with in-person instruction and infection mitigation measures in place. Only seven student cases and no staff cases were linked to in-school transmission out of 191 cases identified in 5,530 students and staff. The case rate among students and staff was lower than the county case rate (3,453 versus 5,466 per 100,000). More.
- Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is believed to have occurred following brief exposure to an infected individual (less than 15 minutes of cumulative interaction within 6 feet) among seven cases in a 41-case outbreak within the National Football League in September. Some of these brief interactions included high-risk behavior, such as unmasked meetings in small rooms while eating. More.
COVID-19 Literature Surveillance Team, is an affiliated group of medical students, PhDs and physicians keeping up with the latest research on SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 by finding the newest articles, reading them, grading their level of evidence and bringing you the bottom line.
Read the latest report: Jan. 26 | Daily COVID-19 LST Report.
Listen to the latest podcast: Jan. 18 & 19 | COVID-19 LST Podcast.
UW Medicine in the News
UW Medicine Newsroom: UW Medicine caregivers reflect on pandemic – vaccinations bring hope.
Video featuring: Nandita Mani, Infectious Disease; Kyra Bloom, Emergency Department; Jessica White, Nurse Manager; Myo Thant, Patient Care Technician
In this video, several UW Medicine employees look back on this challenging year in healthcare and their hopes and expectations for the future.
KIRO: Fauci endorses double-masking as highly contagious COVID-19 variant appears in Washington.
Featuring: Alex Greninger, Laboratory Medicine; Ali Mokdad, IHME
“IHME projects almost 6,077 COVID-19 deaths in Washington through May 1st. But if vaccine distribution is scaled up over 45 days, 108 lives could be saved. If mask use is increased to 95%, 308 lives could be saved. ‘If I’m not wearing an N95 mask, I’m double-masking,’ Mokdad explained. ‘In my case I wear a surgical mask and I wear a cloth mask on top of it.’”
KING 5: Can I still spread COVID-19 after getting vaccinated?
Featuring: Peter Rabinowitz, Global Health
“‘By getting the vaccine, you’re making a huge investment in reducing your risk of both getting it yourself and transmitting it to other people,’ Rabinowitz told KING 5. ‘But that doesn’t mean you’ve gotten rid of the risk.’ As he explained, nothing is fool-proof. ‘As good as they are, they are not 100%,’ said Rabinowitz, when talking about the COVID-19 vaccines. ‘If it’s a 90% effective vaccine, that means there’s a 10% chance that you could still get infected. So, for that reason, you need to consider, when you’re in a high-risk situation – should you wear a mask, should you social distance? And, basically, the answer is yes, you should still continue to do that,’ he continued.”
Q13 FOX: UW lab calls for ‘extra vigilance’ after discovering COVID-19 variant that could ‘take over.’
Featuring: Jeff Duchin, Allergy & Infectious Diseases; Pavitra Roychoudhury, Laboratory Medicine; and Ali Mokdad, IHME
“The U.K. strain is believed to be even more transmissible than the virus the state has been fighting for more than a year. ‘If it’s more transmissible, then that means that all things equal, it’s going to cause more cases than the original version and more cases mean more deaths,’ said Pavitra Roychoudhury, a professor for UW Department of Laboratory Medicine. Roychoudhury said the lab has been searching for the variant since December and sequences 100 to 200 samples a week that share similar a characteristic to the UK strain. After weeks of searching, the two cases popped up. ‘It just calls for extra vigilance to try to get case numbers down as fast as we can before this strain or any other concerning strain takes over,’ she said.”
Tweet of the Week
“We really want to be here to serve those patients and help rebuild life in whatever way that we can."
Since the post-#COVID19 Rehabilitation and Recovery clinic opened in May, more patients are coming through the doors with multiple symptoms. https://t.co/N3tlOGI2vJ
— UW Medicine (@UWMedicine) January 26, 2021
