Public health professionals and community leaders joined together today in a strong stance against stigma and discrimination that can be exacerbated during global outbreaks.

We know that protecting health and safety is not only about safety from a virus, it is also about creating communities where people support each other and we all have our basic needs met.

Today, Public Health – Seattle & King County has launched new resources for our collective community to help address stigma.

We acknowledge that people’s past history and trauma can get exacerbated during these times of stress. Instead of acting from places of fear or stigma, by having the correct information we can understand the low level of risk from the current coronavirus.

Public Health encourages anyone to speak up if you hear, see, or read stigmatizing or harassing comments or misinformation.

Right now there are a lot of rumors and misinformation circulating about coronavirus. Check for accurate information at:

Public Health – Seattle & King County’s coronavirus webpage, Washington state Department of Health’s coronavirus webpage Center for Disease Control and Prevention coronavirus page

Originally published 2/7/2020