Public Health reflects on lessons learned from COVID-19 response in summary report

December 30, 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

Public Health – Seattle & King County has developed an After-Action Report summarizing key information from the first two years (January 2020 – January 2022) of the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Help reduce the spread of COVID-19 by improving indoor air this fall and winter

December 13, 2022.Reading time 11 minutes.

By now you may have heard that we’re experiencing high cases of flu and RSV (a respiratory disease) (in-language resources available) this fall, with young children being hospitalized. With cold weather, we spend more time inside. This increases the potential for another surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the coming months.

Diseases like RSV, the flu, and COVID-19 are airborne and spread easily indoors. With that in mind, it’s important to pay attention to indoor air quality.

Local health officers and health care leaders recommend wearing masks indoors

December 9, 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

Public Health – Seattle & King Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin joins other local health officers and health care leaders in recommending masking in indoor public spaces and other prevention measures given the high level of respiratory viruses circulating and stress on hospitals.

Why people over age 50 should get an updated COVID-19 booster before the holidays

December 5, 2022.Reading time 4 minutes.

As we get ready for our third winter holiday season with COVID-19, we’re tired of hearing about the pandemic. We would much rather focus on the truly important things in our lives—gathering with loved ones, taking time to relax and recharge, and thinking about all the things we want to make happen in the new year.

But getting sick can put a stop to those plans, and gathering indoors during the cold winter months helps COVID-19—along with RSV and flu—to spread more easily. COVID-19 continues to spread and evolve across King County and in the world around us. And if you or a loved one is over age 50, the chance of having severe disease and needing to visit the hospital is much higher.

Tri-demic? Time to increase protections against surging respiratory viruses

November 8, 2022.Reading time 16 minutes.

Young girl with thermometer in her mouth. Young girl covering her cough. Adult man blowing his nose.

We’ve been hearing talk of a potential triple threat of viruses or a “tri-demic” this winter – a rise in multiple types of respiratory viruses. We sat down with Dr. Eric Chow, who leads our Communicable Disease and Epidemiology Section, to learn more about what’s happening and what we can do to stay safer.

Ask Miss Rona: Updated COVID-19 boosters

November 3, 2022.Reading time 10 minutes.

Ask Miss Rona is a Q&A series on Public Health’s Instagram account to respond to community questions related to different topic areas of COVID-19. Questions about COVID-19 vaccines for babies and young children were submitted last week by King County residents and answered by subject matter experts at Public Health – Seattle & King County.