KCMS member and King County Public Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin disseminates expert opinion on the current transmission status of COVID-19 in our community.  EvergreenHealth CMO for Quality and Safety Dr. Ettore Palazzo speaks about the rapid initiation of protocols at his institution in response to recent changes in CDC Guidelines.  These physician leaders convened with an expert workgroup from the CDC’s Prevention Epicenter Program, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Disease to discuss response efforts in our area.

Physicians can and should review the Person Under Investigation (PUI) Guidelines to determine who to screen for COVID-19.  Of note, with COVID-19 now endemic in our area King County physicians and healthcare systems are rapidly adapting to application of these protocols in realtime, again with support from the Epicenter Program. Physicians should advise outpatients of standard nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPI) for illnesses available on website.   

For Healthcare Providers with questions OR patients with concerns about a recent exposure, contact the Coronavirus Call Center: 206-477-3977.  For general questions about COVID-19 that your patients or loved ones may have contact WADOH Hotline at 1-800-525-0127

The scientific community is coming together to share information openly with no restrictions on access to COVID-19 articles.  Address your curiousity with evidence based materials and look for KCMS physicans to be contributing their expertise soon.  

The ACP has released a physicians guide on the novel coronavirus that can be reviewed whether a member or not.