Mayor Durkan touts data showing Seattle leads nation in managing pandemic

Mayor Jenny Durkan commented on a recent report from The Seattle Times Monday, which indicated that the city is leading the nation’s major metropolitan areas in mitigating its COVID-19 crisis.

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“Fortunately, in Seattle, the nation’s leading scientists and public health officials helped inform our early response to the pandemic,” Durkan said in a written release.

The Times’ report drew on data provided by Durkan’s office from 30 major U.S. cities, ranking them based on their cumulative rate of COVID-19 cases through September. Seattle boasted the lowest rate on that list with 7.4 cases per 1,000 people, followed by Portland at 8.9 cases per 1,000.

Durkan credited a series of actions taken at both the state and city level.

“Early actions helped our city, region, and state save lives,” she said. “In addition to Governor Inslee’s ‘Stay Home, Stay Healthy’ order, our City and Public Health – Seattle & King County have closely monitored outbreaks and created new policies that kept our community safe – from requiring face coverings, to actions to protect our most vulnerable at long-term care facilities and homeless shelters, to distributing 1 million items of PPE, to creating new policies at our parks and streets for our residents and businesses.”

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Seattle also has the lowest rate of hospitalizations among cities on that list (0.7 per every 1,000 residents), and the second lowest rate of deaths (0.2 per every 1,000).

On the other end of the spectrum, Las Vegas had the highest rate of cumulative cases, with 76.7 per every 1,000 people, followed by Nashville at 41.8 per every 1,000.

To continue its ongoing response efforts, Durkan said she will soon announce a plan to expand access in the city to flu vaccines entering into the colder fall and winter months.

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