Mirroring a current trend across the country, we are seeing a rise in COVID cases in King County, with the rate of transmission crossing from low to medium levels earlier this week.

In a blog post this week, Seattle and King County officials wrote, “While the CDC ‘medium’ risk category is not a magic threshold, meaning something has suddenly or fundamentally changed about the outbreak, it does tell us that COVID-19 risk is increasing for individuals and for our community. We can use this information to lower our own risk and those around us by increasing our protection.” 

Excerpted here from the post are reminders of the measures and practices that help reduce transmission, each of which is consistent with Seattle University’s response:

• being up to date on COVID-19 vaccine and recommended booster doses. Vaccination and boosters also help lower the risk of developing long COVID.
• improving indoor air quality through ventilation, filtration and other strategies
• using high quality and well-fitting face masks in crowded indoor settings
• getting tested and isolating if you have symptoms and testing when possible before attending gatherings with high-risk people