Hot weather next week, gun violence prevention discussion continues, visit to the skate park, elections update, Council meetings this week and next week, and more!

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Banner image showing King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles.

July 22, 2022

skt

Last week I got to stop by a Skate Like a Girl summer camp at SeaSk8 near the Seattle Center! Scroll down for a full breakdown of my visit.

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

On Tuesday at our King County Council meeting, we heard a briefing on COVID from Public Health – Seattle & King County Health Officer Jeff Duchin that was highly informative. The long and short of it is that COVID cases are up in King County and across the nation, and that there is likely an undercount due to the prevalence of at-home testing, the results of which are generally unreported. COVID hospitalizations have tripled since April, though these patients generally are not exhibiting as serious symptoms as earlier in the pandemic due to the prevalence of vaccines. Hospitals across the region are experiencing high levels of stress, although that stress is generally being driven not by COVID, but by delayed procedures and an inability to discharge patients.

Much of the reason for our current surge is due to the B.A.5. COVID variant. It is causing the vast majority of infections in the U.S. as this variant is better at dodging immunity from vaccines and past infection as well as being highly transmittable. While Public Health is strongly recommending that people mask indoors, a mandate has not been implemented at this time since the B.A.5 variant is generally resulting in less serious illness. To view the full briefing, click here.

Remember, the best way to protect against severe COVID illness is to make sure you’re updated on your vaccines. More information on getting vaccinated in King County is available here.

As always, I would like to hear from you. You can call me at 206-477-1004 or you can reach me by email at jeanne.kohl-welles@kingcounty.gov.  

All the best and I hope you are staying safe.