OLYMPIA — Public health officials say they are scrambling to make sure hospitals will have enough beds, respirators and protective equipment in preparation for the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in our state.

Raquel Bono, state director of the COVID-19 Health System Response Management, said she and her team had been working with hospitals across the state to assess the state’s capacity for a surge in hospitalizations. Bono said they had determined last week that the bed capacity would be sufficient and so would the capacity for ventilators, after finding over 1,000 devices that were previously unaccounted for.

“Even with the new numbers, we feel very confident that across the state we have the capacity we need.” Bono assured.

The team also sought additional ventilators, which she said should be delivered in the coming weeks.

Another component of urgently needed equipment are the gloves, gowns, masks and respirators that protect health care workers from contracting the virus while working to save those who have the worst infections.

Secretary of the state Department of Health, John Wiesman, said currently the demand for this type of equipment exceeds the supply. Wiesman said the state is “looking all across the globe” for suppliers, and it is a very “competitive market.”

David Postman, chief of staff for the governor, said the governor has been doing everything he can to bring protective equipment to the state, even cold-calling companies for surplus supplies, or asking them to manufacture equipment they were not making before.

Wiesman said tens of millions of masks and respirators have been ordered in an effort to ensure health care workers will not run out of equipment when they need it the most.

According to Wiesman, health care facilities are taking actions to reduce the consumption of these items, such as postponing non-urgent surgeries, providing telemedicine consultations and other conservation measures.

State Health Officer Kathy Lofy said the rate of COVID-19 infection in Washington does appear to be slowing as the curve seems to be flattening. However, that does not mean infections are not increasing. Lofy said there were more infections recorded last week than the week before with the same number of people tested.

Lofy said it is difficult to know if the infections have peaked, as it will take two to three weeks of a decline in the rate of infections to be able to confirm the peak has passed. She encouraged people to stay home and stay healthy, because a lapse of social distancing could lead to a jump in infection numbers.