Summary
Brand-new research recommends the spread of COVID-19 health problem is slowing down thanks to the collective actions of locals in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, who are broadly following the “stay home” message.
Story
Public policies on social distancing associated with movement reductions
Recently published findings recommend the spread of COVID-19 slowing down is good news, and health officials stress that continuing social distancing guidelines is the most-effective method to continue this favorable pattern and prevent a revival of the disease.
Modeling from the Institute for Illness Modeling in Bellevue, launched in a research study on Tuesday, April 14, recommends that the average infected individual may be most likely to infect simply one or fewer additional individuals with COVID-19, down from approximately 2.7 individuals in late February.
Public Health– Seattle & King County encourages the general public to sustain what’s working and to continue to reduce transmissions as much as possible.
Thanks to the significant work that our neighborhood has done to distance themselves and stay home, we have continued to see a reduction in transmission of COVID-19 locally,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer for Public Health– Seattle & King County.
” We are not precisely where we need to be, yet, but we have actually definitely moved a long method in the best instructions,” Dr. Duchin stated.
If the present pattern can be sustained, the next actions would be to shift from social distancing steps, in a progressive, step-wise way, with each action followed by at least two weeks of observation to see how rapidly the disease is spreading out.
Dr. Duchin stated a number of essential requirements would have to be taken before that can occur, consisting of:
- Widely readily available access to screening for COVID-19
- A healthcare system that stays ready for any rise in brand-new cases.
- Enough individual protective devices for healthcare employees and others in the community who require to look after patients.
- Adequate capacity for county and state health authorities to perform fast and extensive case examinations, contact tracing, and isolation and quarantine, to prevent prevalent transmission.
Health authorities alert that without these measures in place, any relaxing of social distancing guidelines would likely result in a significant rebound of the epidemic, perhaps bigger than the preliminary peak.
- An audio recording(MP3 format) and composed records(PDF) of Health Officers from King, Pierce and Snohomish counties commenting on the study findings is readily available.
- The blog site released on Public Health Insider, The Danger of Ending Social Distancing Too Early: A Conversations with our Health Officer offers extra details on what it takes to unwind some of the social distancing measures
Case updates
Daily totals for brand-new COVID-19 cases and deaths are available on Public Health’s Data Control panel website, which updates as quickly as information are offered, normally in between 1-3 p.m.
Seclusion and quarantine facilities update
Seclusion and quarantine is a proven public health practice for lowering the spread of illness. Individuals can just be positioned into the King County sites after a health expert with Public Health has actually determined that they require isolation or quarantine.
Seventy-one people are presently staying in King County isolation and quarantine centers.
The variety of citizens at King County’s seclusion and quarantine websites is consisted of in regular updates supplied by Public Health. No other recognizing or individual info will be offered.
Extra information
- Info about COVID-19 and the response in King County, make sure to examine our webpage: www.kingcounty.gov/covid
- Public Health releases new info often through the Public Health Expert blog– please consider becoming a customer by picking the choice to “Follow Blog Site Via Email.”
