Public Health — Seattle & King County is monitoring changes in key economic, social, and other health indicators resulting from strategies to slow the spread of COVID-19. Just as the pandemic has had disparate impacts on parts of our population, mitigation measures present more hardship for some members of our community than others. The economic, social, and health impacts data project helps inform strategies and policies to minimize those harms and maximize outcomes for all residents of King County.

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Below are highlights, but you can view the entire dashboard here

Want to learn more about this work? 

^{See our article in the October 2021 issue of the American Journal of Public Health where we explain how we apply a monitoring & evaluation framework along with timely cross-sector data to analyze and share community-level health data for this project. Check it out here!}

Steady rate of calls to King County's 2-1-1 crisis connection line during early fall 2021

• During the week of October 11-17, the most common social service needs among callers were 'Housing' (56%) and  'Legal, Consumer and Public Services' (22%).

• Throughout September calls for 'Housing' needs have been steadily increasing, with decreases starting in first half of October.
• Calls for 'Legal, Consumer, and Public Services' needs remained steady through September and have started to increase in October.

• During the week of October 11-17, 9% of callers sought 'Health Care/COVID-19' service needs. Calls for these needs decreased after peaking in February 2021 and have remained low.

ECONOMIC

Decreasing unemployment benefit enrollments 

Following the end of federal CARES act unemployment benefits in early September, the number of King County residents receiving unemployment benefits continues to decline, to 10,898 or about 0.7% of workers as of October 23.

SOCIAL

Recent decrease in calls to the National Domestic Violence (DV) hotline

There were 170 calls to the National DV Hotline in September 2021, an 11% decrease compared to January 2020. Calls have been on an increasing trend since October 2019, but as of June 2021 there has been a decline in monthly calls. 

Decreasing emergency department (ED) visits for domestic violence

The number of ED visits involving domestic violence was 116 in September 2021. This is lower (but not statistically different) than the number in September 2019 (153 ED visits).  

HEALTH

Increasing Medicaid enrollment 

There were 470,067 people enrolled in Medicaid in King County in September 2021. This is a 19% increase in Medicaid enrollment compared to January 2020. 

Increasing calls to the WA Poison Center 

There were 1,129 calls to the WA Poison Center from King County residents in October 2021.  
This was a 3% increase in calls from the previous month, but a 2% decrease in calls compared to October 2019. 

Coming soon: our new youth and young adult mental health data report