Seattle Public Schools cancel classes for COVID testing even as testing sites announce closures after too many positive results

The University of Washington medical center announced on Thursday that they will be shuttering multiple COVID testing sites and limiting appointments after an influx of patients test positive for the virus.

According to KOMO News, UW Medicine will limit COVID-19 testing for people with symptoms or exposures in response to an "astronomically high" positivity rate.

Washington state is currently reporting their highest number of COVID "cases" since the start of the pandemic nearly two years ago as the Omicron variant sweeps across the nation.

Nine out of twelve UW Medical community testing sites will begin limiting appointments next week while three will close temporarily.

Dr. Geoff Baird, chair of laboratory medicine and pathology at UW Medicine, said that the high positivity rate (40 percent) is creating a significant challenge for scientists to determine which cases are positive.

They say that the vast increase in patients presenting cold-like symptoms that are getting tested is impeding on scientists' abilities to turn around result in a timely fashion.

"We are in the midst of the worst public health disaster in the history of humanity," Dr. Baird said. "It's important to go back and remind ourselves, this isn't really an inconvenience, this is a serious public health problem."

Dr. Baird expressed concern after the samples they collected from one testing site in Auburn had a 49 percent positivity rate.

"Which is just astronomically high compared to where we have been," Dr. Baird said. "In between surges we've seen positivity rates at Seattle sites at 5-10 percent."

To prepare for students returning to the classroom after Winter Break, Seattle Public Schools announced on Thursday that school's will be closed on Monday and that the district will provide optional Covid tests to all students and staff.

Universities and Colleges across Washington state also announced that they will be returning to remote learning for at least one week upon return from Winter Break to help ease the spread of Omicron.

Washington State Public Health COVID Deputy Secretary, Lacey Feherenbach, said that those who don't need to submit Covid tests for travel should take at-home tests instead of going to clinics.

"We do encourage people especially if they're testing for travel or gatherings and there is not a particular test required for their destination, that they really avail themselves to at-home tests," Feherenbach said.