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A wave of infections  has meant a steady increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations. But during this surge, fewer people seem to be talking about it.

And that has hospital officials showing some frustration as they fear Washingtonians might not fully understand the burden on public health.

Yes, most people are not getting as sick as they were during past peaks, Cassie Sauer, president of the Washington State Hospital Association, said in a Monday news briefing. And doctors and scientists have a better understanding of the disease now, as well as better access to antiviral drugs. Vaccination rates are also higher and new variants have, so far, been less severe.

That doesn’t mean people aren’t dying from COVID or suffering from long-term symptoms, hospital leaders said.

“It’s all the same stuff we’ve been doing all along. … And yet the community’s not feeling that at this point,” said Dr. David Carlson, chief physician officer at Tacoma-based MultiCare. “I don’t have a magic understanding of why that is other than there is just this enormous amount of fatigue, and COVID is not continually the story on the news today.”