King County Reflects On A Year Of Fighting COVID-19

SEATTLE — King County will reach another somber milestone over the weekend, marking one year since identifying the first COVID-19 outbreak in the United States and mourning the earliest deaths linked to a virus that would go on to claim more than 500,000 lives across the nation.

King County Executive Dow Constantine joined health officer Dr. Jeff Duchin on Friday to reflect on the lessons learned since that day and map the journey ahead toward a return to normalcy.

"One year ago Sunday, King County became ground zero for an emerging pandemic due to a new respiratory virus, SARS-CoV-2, that swept us up into a storm of suffering and uncertainty that continues to buffet us physically, emotionally, socially and economically," Duchin said. "The COVID-19 pandemic has been an exhausting, and ongoing, yearlong natural disaster unprecedented in its duration, damage and pervasive impact on our lives."

On a Saturday morning at the end of last February, King County officials held a news conference to announce that a man in his 50s had died from COVID-19 complications and confirm two additional illnesses recorded at a Kirkland nursing home. At the time, the number of COVID-19 cases diagnosed nationwide had yet to break two dozen.

"One year ago, few could have imagined how much and for how long we would have to have everything turned upside down," Constantine said. "We knew it was a serious disease — Dr. Duchin and his team warned us — and we took action, setting up our medical command center many weeks before the first confirmed case here in King County. When the tragedy...at the Life Care Center in Kirkland unfolded, every county operation changed and adapted, and our community took unprecedented steps to take lives. And by our actions, by your actions, we did just that."

More than three dozen residents would die within a month at the Life Care Center, the first epicenter of COVID-19 infections in the United States. A year later, King County has diagnosed almost 82,000 cases, and 1,380 people have died. Among the dead, nearly 60 percent were linked to long-term care facilities.

Despite the virus's toll, King County leaders took a moment to thank Washingtonians for acting quickly to limit the scope of tragedy, despite being among the first Americans to encounter the new virus. Constantine shared public health estimates showing King County with the second-lowest rate of cases among the nation's most populous regions.

"Make no mistake, this virus has taken its toll on our community, and we will forever be changed by it," Constantine said. "But, as we approach the one-year mark of this pandemic this weekend, the people of King County can know that everything you have done to help stop the spread of this virus has made an enormous difference. It is no exaggeration, it is not hyperbole, to say that your work has saved the lives of friends and families, and neighbors — thousands of lives across this county. It was not just by government actions, it was by people understanding responsibility to one another, and making sacrifices that protect the community, that we have had among the lowest infection rates of anywhere in this country."

While the county as a whole has been spared some of the worst outcomes of the pandemic, Duchin and Constantine also took time Friday to note the outsized impact on communities of color.

"It's been a terribly difficult year in many ways, and more difficult for some than for others," Duchin said. "It's important to acknowledge that COVID-19 has starkly highlighted and exacerbated structural inequities and resulting health disparities in our society. Communities of color experiencing longstanding poor health outcomes from the effects of racism, from social, economic and environmental disadvantages, and from lack of access to health care have been hardest hit by COVID-19, with higher rates of cases, hospitalizations and deaths, while at the same making up a large portion of the frontline essential workers that have kept our society functioning."

Despite steady progress seen in King County and across the state since early January, Duchin warned the fight against the virus is not over. Though down significantly from December, case counts today are about twice the level they were before the third surge and three times higher than before the second wave in late summer.

"This means there are still thousands of people with infectious COVID-19 in King County each day, up to half of whom can spread the infection despite showing no symptoms," Duchin said. "A major concern for us is the more contagious and potentially more severe SARS-CoV-2 variants increasing locally and nationally, which pose a serious and unpredictable threat to our progress."

The only way to successfully avoid a potentially larger fourth wave, fueled by variant infections, is by keeping up the same public health in place for months, Duchin said. That includes limiting contact with those outside the household, wearing well-made and well-fitting masks, avoiding crowded spaces, improving indoor ventilation and trying to keep socialization outdoors whenever possible.

"It's critical to understand that we remain vulnerable, and complacency now would be a major mistake," Duchin said. "But we are in a much better place than we were a month ago, and we are heading closer to a possible return towards normalcy in a few months. The only question is what road will we take to get there."

Ultimately, vaccines will be an essential tool in ending the pandemic but health officials still expect it will take several more months to get enough of the population immunized for wider protection.

"Vaccination is our most powerful single weapon against COVID-19, but at the moment it can't be our only strategy," Duchin said. "It's essential to continue to decrease transmission through COVID-19 prevention measures and vaccination in order to reduce the risk for a major spring surge."

According to the latest data, approximately 1 in 6 King County adults have received at least one dose of vaccine to date, and 1 in 11 are fully vaccinated. For older adults, the progress is much more pronounced, with over half over the age of 65 having received at least one dose, and about 60 percent of adults 70 and older.

Until vaccine doses are more easily available and widely administered, King County officials urge everyone to keep up the fight a little bit longer and beat down the virus for good.

"Although the trajectory of our outbreak is impossible to predict with confidence, especially with the new variants, it is possible that with clear-eyed, realistic optimism and a few more weeks of serious effort, caution and vigilance, we may be able to put the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic behind us and return our attention to healing, recovery and a much more enjoyable future," Duchin said.

Watch the full Friday briefing below: