Current Respiratory Illness Activity

Sharing Respiratory Illness Data for Community Awareness

We promote public understanding and awareness of illness trends for COVID-19, Influenza, and RSV. The data below use the epidemiological week (CDC week) calendar for our date representations. Using CDC week provides a standardized approach to tracking and analyzing disease trends over time. While we strive to present accurate and up-to-date information, please note that all data is preliminary and should be interpreted with caution. This website will be updated weekly through the spring of 2026, usually on Wednesdays.

Key Updates

Last updated: January 14, 2026

  • Acute Respiratory Illness (ARI)* is rising in the NSACH Region, potentially stable in Island County.
  • COVID-19 activity is low but rising.   
  • Influenza activity is rising. 
  • RSV activity is stable.

Percent of Emergency Department (ED) Visits for Island County Residents

CDC Week 01: January 4-10, 2026A table comparing IC and NSACH percentages of respiratory illness emergency department room visitsA graph comparing IC and NSACH percentages of respiratory illness emergency department room visits

Data as of 1/14/2026

*Acute Respiratory Illness (ARI) emergency department visits measure a wide variety of respiratory symptoms and conditions that are diagnosed during an emergency department visit, ranging from the common cold to COVID-19, influenza, and RSV. More information can be found in CDC’s Acute Respiratory Illness Technical Brief.

Emergency Department Visits for Island County Residents and NorthSound ACH Facilities

A graph comparing IC and NSACH percentages of respiratory illness emergency department room visits**Data as of 1/14/2026

Island County Wastewater Viral Activity

A table comparing IC and NSACH percentages of respiratory illness particles detected in wastewaterData as of 12/31/2025

  • View statewide wastewater viral data and track trends from WA-DOH here.

About Wastewater-Based Epidemiology

Wastewater-based epidemiology describes the process of measuring a pathogen's level in wastewater at participating wastewater sites. In Island County, we have wastewater sampling setup with WA-DOH in Oak Harbor and Coupeville. Sampling is also completed in Stanwood. 

How the results can be used

It is most important to track the trends of wastewater concentrations. For example, whether the concentrations are increasing, decreasing, or staying flat. Local health departments can use this data to respond to increased disease activity through public messaging, resource allocation, and other efforts. Individual community members can use the results to make decisions about personal risk and behavior.

Percentage of Positive Tests Performed by WhidbeyHealth Hospital System

A graph showing WhidbeyHealth percentages of positive COVID, flu, and RSV tests***Data as of 12/31/2025

Healthcare organizations update masking guidelines for 2025-26 respiratory illness season

Healthcare systems in Puget Sound updated their guidelines for masking in hospitals and outpatient clinics during respiratory illness season. This year, the acute respiratory illness threshold will be used, which considers the overall community burden of respiratory illnesses that include COVID-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), as well as other respiratory illness infections. Island County Public Health recommends facilities to implement universal masking when the North Sound ACH region (Island, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom Counties) reaches the 14% threshold for ARI emergency department visits until the region is below threshold for TWO consecutive weeks.

Local healthcare facilities are encouraged to develop masking policies for patients, visitors, and employees in healthcare settings based on respiratory illness levels in the community. Island County Public Health joins other local health jurisdictions in supporting the continued commitment by healthcare organizations to encourage appropriate masking in hospitals and clinics. Masking reduces the spread of disease, protects vulnerable patients and healthcare workers, and helps ensure healthcare facilities maintain capacity to serve our communities.

You can read more about the current masking guidelines and local healthcare organizations’ commitment to keeping our community safe in this statement. [This recommendation should not be used by regulatory agencies for enforcement. Please contact the ICPH CD team for specific facility-based recommendations.]

Some notes about the data

*Transmission alert thresholds: If the percent of emergency department visits with an acute respiratory illness diagnosis is above the transmission alert threshold, it is a sign that there is substantial transmission of respiratory illness. This transmission alert threshold was calculated using CDC’s methodology. The weeks of lowest activity for acute respiratory illness are determined using clinical and public health laboratory test positivity data. The transmission alert threshold is then calculated as the mean plus two standard deviations of the percent of emergency department visits diagnosed with acute respiratory illness during the lowest activity weeks in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties.

**Data on Respiratory Illnesses: Emergency department visits are reported to the Washington State Department of Health’s Rapid Health Information NetwOrk (RHINO) and are stored on the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) Biosense ESSENCE platform. All non-federal hospitals and their associated inpatient units report healthcare encounter data in near-real time to RHINO. ESSENCE is a syndromic surveillance system that collects data from hospitals and clinics across the country. The graphs on this webpage display data from emergency department visits made by Island County residents, including visits both within and outside of Island County, along with all patient visits for facilities in the NSACH region, which may or may not include Island County residents. If someone visits the emergency department more than once, each visit is counted. Counts do not reflect unique persons. These data typically lag behind by two weeks, so they may be incomplete at the time of reporting.

***These data are provided by the WhidbeyHealth Hospital system and include respiratory panels and individual tests, including lab tests and rapid tests from the hospital, all clinics, and the emergency department. Data are preliminary and subject to change. Percentages are calculated by dividing the number of positive tests by the total number of tests for each virus during the appropriate time period.  

State and Regional Data Dashboards and Reports