Public Health - Seattle & King CountyVerified account

However, some cases develop pneumonia and require care or hospitalization. If you have symptoms like cough, fever or other respiratory problems, contact your regular doctor first. Do not go to the emergency room. ERs need to be able to serve those with the most critical needs.

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available. • Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands. • Avoid contact with people who are sick.

• Stay home while you are sick and avoid close contact with others. • Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, then throw the tissue in the trash and wash your hands.

• To prevent novel #coronavirus from spreading, large gatherings and public events may be postponed or cancelled. • School dismissals may happen if a serious pandemic occurs.

These measures could include personal, community and environmental measures:

• Personal steps include staying home when sick, covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue, washing hands often or using hand sanitizer.

• Community measures include creating physical distance between people in settings where they come in close contact with one another; possibly temporarily closing schools; and modifying, postponing or canceling large public events.

• Environmental measures include routinely cleaning frequently touched surfaces and objects.

It is most important for people who are sick to wear a mask in community settings such as a waiting medical room to avoid exposing other people when they cough or sneeze.

Another example when a mask might be appropriate is when ill people are in close contact with others and share common spaces with other household members, or when symptomatic postpartum women care for and nurse their infants.

People wear masks for a variety of acceptable reasons. We should not assume that someone wearing a mask is sick.

We have heard of shortages of personal protective equipment in the U.S. Nationally, we are at an 80% allocation rate. This means that if you normally order 100 masks you would get 80.

@WADeptHealth is monitoring this situation and we're communicating with our healthcare partners. Additionally, we're in contact with our partners at the @CDCgov as they are addressing the national shortage by working with supply chain vendors to coordinate resources.