With the COVID-19 pandemic calming in Washington state and locally, King County is putting a Bellevue quarantine site on hold.

County spokesperson Angie Malpass said current patient capacity seems sufficient without the Bellevue site opening.

“There continues to be plenty of capacity at King County’s COVID-19 isolation, quarantine and recovery centers that are currently open today in Kent, Issaquah, North Seattle/Aurora, Harborview Hall and Shoreline,” Malpass said.

Further, she noted that the county believes it is past the worst of it.

“We saw peak demand about one and a half weeks ago at 74 guests and have seen a plateau now at 61 guests today,” Malpass said. “As a result, while ready, we don’t anticipate having a need to open Eastgate in the immediate future.”

That does not mean the county will get rid of the site, nor does it mean that the county believes the pandemic is over.

“Public Health is anticipating an inevitable second wave of COVID-19 and we will continue to keep the Eastgate site ready to open for when that second surge happens, should the current five facilities that are operational reach capacity,” Malpass said. “This goes for the site at White Center, which like Eastgate remains ready when needed, and Interbay/Elliott Ave., which will soon be ready for when needed.”

The Bellevue facility is located in Eastgate at 13620 SE Eastgate Way, and it will have a capacity for 140-150 people. It will house patients in two fabric structures (tents) if it is put to use.