Updates for March 26, 2020: New cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, but community actions may be limiting the spread

Novel Coronavirus, Press Releases

Summary

Community actions may be helping to limit the spread of COVID-19. Public Health announced 218 new cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the official case count in King County to 1577. In addition, nine new deaths are reported, bringing the total of deaths in King County to 109.

Story

As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, community actions may be helping to limit the spread

The COVID-19 outbreak in King County is ongoing, with more than 200 new positive cases announced today, and typically 100 or more new cases each day. Many of our healthcare systems are feeling strained to care for the increased number of COVID-19 patients. In addition, most of our long term care facilities (including nursing homes), with especially vulnerable residents, have been impacted by COVID-19 outbreaks.

It’s critically important that we continue to stay home and limit our contact with others,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer for Public Health—Seattle & King County. “Some initial indications suggest that these types of community mitigations are having a positive impact on decreasing the spread of disease, even if we can’t measure it precisely yet.”

Most people who become ill with COVID-19 show their first symptoms more than a week after exposure, and it may be two weeks before someone becomes seriously ill. Our healthcare systems continue to take steps to prepare for an increasing number of hospitalized and critically ill patients.

For additional information about COVID-19 and the response in King County, be sure to check our webpage: www.kingcounty.gov/covid

Case updates

Public Health—Seattle & King County is reporting the following confirmed cases and deaths due to COVID-19 through 11:59 p.m. on 3/25/20.

  • 1,577 confirmed positive cases (up 218 from yesterday) 
  • 109 confirmed deaths (up 9 from yesterday)

Important note: With the launch of a new data dashboard (www.kingcounty.gov/covid/data), Public Health will no longer be listing individual deaths by age and gender in our News Release. Detailed information about demographics of those who died from COVID-19 is available on the dashboard. Be sure to click the button to filter by “positive results only” to see age and gender of deaths. A PDF is also available.

Isolation and quarantine facilities update

Isolation and quarantine is a proven public health practice for reducing the spread of disease. Examples of people who may need this assistance include people who cannot safely isolate from a family member who is elderly or medically fragile, or people experiencing homelessness. Individuals can only be placed into the King County sites after a health professional with Public Health—Seattle & King County has determined that they need isolation or quarantine.

Eleven people are currently staying in a King County isolation and quarantine facility.

The number of people in King County’s isolation and quarantine sites will be included in regular updates provided by Public Health. No other identifying or personal information will be provided.