This week, Public Health acknowledged that many protesters, particularly Black, Indigenous and People of Color, are choosing to take on the risk of potential exposure to COVID-19 because of the importance of confronting and undoing the systems of racism, oppression and brutality. People are protesting because their lives depend on it.
Public Health is concerned about the possible spread of COVID-19 at these large gatherings, and for the potential to exacerbate the racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 rates for communities of color, especially for Black, Native, Latinx, and Pacific Islander residents of King County.
We urge all people protesting against racial injustice to take steps to stay healthy and avoid bringing COVID-19 home with them. We need to keep each other healthy now and get to a more just future for everyone.
Further details are all available in a helpful post 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. The daily summary shows that there were 8,644 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in King County as of 11:59 on June 11, 60 more than the previous day. There have been 571 confirmed deaths in King County due to COVID-19, 6.6% of all confirmed cases. The numbers that Public Health reports each day include delayed results from previous days.
The first graph below shows new cases (blue bars) and the 7-day average (red line). Of the 60 new cases reported today, 27 were confirmed yesterday and the remaining 33 were confirmed in previous days. The 7-day average of new cases per day peaked at 194 on April 1. The average for the last 7 days is now 29 new cases per day, down from 45 one week ago. The 7-day average has declined 36% in the last week and 21% in the last two weeks.
The key indicators that the State and County are using to make decisions about reopening include a measure of the total number of cases reported in the previous 14 days per 100K residents. The target for this metric is less than 25. The second and third graphs below show this metric.
The second graph goes back to March 12, the fourteenth day of reported cases.
The third graph provided a more detailed view of results in the last few weeks. 23.3 cases were reported per 100K residents during the 14-day period May 29 – June 11.
Will Daugherty welcomes your questions and comments. His email is wdaugherty@pacsci.org