Video: Dr. Jeff Duchin’s COVID-19 press briefing – August 5, 2021

August 6, 2021.Reading time 2 minutes.

This virus is significantly nastier than previous COVID-19 viruses, and it’s challenging us in new ways. The bottom line: vaccines offer excellent protection against hospitalization and death from Delta. But if you aren’t vaccinated, you are more likely to be infected, hospitalized or die from COVID-19.

Three recent COVID-19 outbreaks – and what the data says about how to prevent a larger surge in cases

August 5, 2021.Reading time 13 minutes.

Illustrative graphic of people of all different skin colors and hair types in a crowd wearing masks

Many recent outbreaks are occurring in indoor workplaces and social events among people who were not wearing masks and where ventilation was poor. In this blog, we take a closer look at three recent, notable outbreaks.

Ask Miss Rona: Delta Variant

August 3, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

Miss Rona is a Q&A series started on Public Health’s Instagram to respond to community questions related to different topic areas of COVID-19. For this edition of Miss Rona, we answered your questions about the Delta variant.

Video: Dr. Jeff Duchin’s COVID-19 Press Briefing – July, 30 2021

July 30, 2021.Reading time 1 minute.

Delta has put us in a more difficult position we were not wanting to be in at this point in the outbreak. New information has led to recent changes in indoor masking and testing guidance. We’ll need to continue to adapt to the changing reality and adjust our guidance and personal behaviors appropriately to help us stay as healthy as possible. Layered protection remains the best protection. We have great tools to fight COVID-19 – first among them are vaccines – but until we’re in a more stable and safer place, it makes sense to take advantage of other easy and effective measures to reduce our risk.

New King County data: Inequitable health impacts of COVID-19 reflect the intersections of social and economic factors

July 28, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

Public Health – Seattle & King County created a social and economic risk index in 2020 to help leaders and managers direct resources and prevention efforts to communities with the greatest COVID-19 inequities. Now, that data is available to the public through a new data dashboard and a report with analysis and key takeaways.

The data shows how multiple interconnected structural and systemic factors are associated with COVID-19 disease rates across King County neighborhoods over the course of the pandemic.

Region’s top health officials issue unified advice: Everyone should mask up in indoor public spaces

July 26, 2021.Reading time 8 minutes.

Wear a mask in indoor, public spaces. This unified recommendation comes as case counts in our region are rising again, driven largely by the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19.