According to date from Johns Hopkins University, over 2,000 people have now died of COVID-19 in the U.S. Over 10,000 people have now died of the disease in Italy, followed by more than 5,900 in Spain, 3,100 in China, 2,500 in Iran and 2,300 in France.
Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County has signed an order and directive on March 28 making it mandatory for people with a positive COVID-19 test to follow isolation protocols at home or at a recovery facility. The directive requires everyone with COVID-19 symptoms (fever, cough, and/or difficulty breathing) who has a test pending to stay quarantined.
Said Dr. Duchin: “Many steps we are taking as a community are helping to decrease the number of people who get sick, need hospital care and who die. However, we cannot stop the outbreak completely and our community will likely remain at risk for months to come. Through my health order and directive today, I am re-emphasizing the requirement for people who are infected with COVID-19 to follow our existing recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to others in the community by staying isolated from others while ill, and to stay quarantined with symptoms while test results are pending. Each of us need to do whatever we can to prevent others from becoming ill. Everyone—young and old, whether you have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or not—should stay home and avoid all non-essential contact with others.”
To protect the public, if an individual with active COVID-19 is not voluntarily remaining isolated, or if an individual who has COVID-19 symptoms with a test pending is not remaining self-quarantined, they may be subject to enforcement actions, which could include legal actions for involuntary detention.
