JUNETEENTH 2022: A Message to Community

June 16, 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863, declared enslaved Black people in Confederate-controlled areas were free. However, it wasn’t until “Juneteenth” – June 19, 1865, two and a half years later, that Major General Gordon Granger and approximately 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas to announce the war was over and slavery had ended.

King County transitions COVID-19 testing sites to community partners

May 27, 2022.Reading time 5 minutes.

Sandwich board-style sign that reads " Free COVID-19 Testing"

We are excited to announce that community partners will be taking over operation of the Tukwila, Federal Way and Auburn COVID-19 testing sites in June, following a brief closure during the transition process.

Alert: bird flu in Washington can harm backyard poultry and wild birds

May 25, 2022.Reading time 8 minutes.

Eight counties in Washington state, including King County, have reported backyard poultry infected by bird flu. The risk for bird flu to spread from birds to people is very low. The risk of it spreading from human to human is also very low.

Community partnerships for food security

May 9, 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

Public Health’s Food Insecurity Screening Community of Practice works with healthcare and community partners to help ensure all communities have what they need to be healthy. One example of this work to address food insecurity is the partnership between Sea Mar Medical Clinic and the White Center Food Bank to open an on-site food pantry.

Immunocompromised? You may be eligible for this medication to help protect from COVID illness

May 5, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

If you are at higher risk from COVID-19 because of a compromised immune system, Pre-exposure prophylaxis can help to protect from severe disease when taken before infection or exposure.