Public Health strongly urges anyone who has even mild COVID-19 symptoms to call their healthcare provider as soon as they start to feel sick to ask about COVID-19 testing. COVID-19 symptoms are cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fever, chills, muscle pain, sore throat, or loss of taste or smell.
It is important not to wait to be tested. If you have COVID-19, you are contagious. A COVID-19 test will let you know if you are infected so you can protect your family, friends and community by keeping yourself away from others. Staying away from others when you have COVID-19 is crucial to slow the spread of the virus in our community. You should also call your healthcare provider and ask for a test if you live with or have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19. Even if you don’t have symptoms, you may be contagious and should stay away from others.
There are several low or no-cost testing sites in King County that are open to anyone who cannot access COVID-19 testing through their regular healthcare provider – a list of sites is available at this link. Most of these sites are non-profit Community Health Centers.
King County residents can contact these sites directly for testing hours and to make an appointment. If you are still having difficulty accessing a COVID-19 test, call the King County COVID-19 call center, which is open seven days a week 8 a.m. – 7 p.m., at 206-477-3977.
Further details are all available in today’s update on the Public Health Insider.
Otherwise, this daily synthesis of the Public Health data is provided by Will Daugherty of Pacific Science Center. Thanks Will!
Public Health has updated the data dashboard. As of 11:59 pm yesterday, May 21, there were 7,697 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in King County, 52 more than the previous day. There have been 537 confirmed deaths in King County due to COVID-19, 7.0% of all confirmed cases. The numbers that Public Health reports each day include delayed results from previous days.
The three graphs below chart new cases, total case count and the logarithmic trajectory of cases.
The first graph shows new cases (blue bars) and the 7-day average (red line). Of the 52 new cases reported today, 45 were confirmed yesterday and the remaining 7 were confirmed in previous days. The 7-day average of new cases per day peaked at 193 on April 1. The average for the last 7 days is now 44 new cases per day, the lowest level since March 12. The 7-day average has declined 44% in the last two weeks and 29% in the last week. If the rate of decline during the last two weeks continues, the 7-day average will be 10 on around June 26. That’s not a prediction—just math—but I do expect the 7-day average to drop into the high 30s by Tuesday.
The second graph shows the total case count. With 7,697 total cases as of 11:59 pm yesterday, the compound daily growth rate during the last 7 days has been 0.59%, 27 basis points less than the 0.86% rate during the prior 7 days. With 7,697 cases, the daily growth rate must be less than 0.13% in order for the number of new cases per day to be less than 10.
The third graph shows the trajectory of cases in King County with the total number of cases on the horizontal axis and the new cases on the vertical axis. Each axis is on a logarithmic scale. Each blue dot represents a daily report. The dot farthest to the left is the February 28 report. Time passes from left to right as the total case count grows. The dot farthest to the right is today’s daily report. We can see a clear change in the trajectory since March 28, shortly after Governor Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order on March 23. We can see the significant downward trajectory in the last two weeks.
Will Daugherty welcomes your questions and comments. His email is wdaugherty@pacsci.org