Social distancing has shown promise in slowing the spread of COVID-19 illnesses, although the number of deaths have now reached double digits in South King County cities of Renton and Enumclaw, according to results released Monday by Public Health — Seattle & King County.

Kent already had reached double digits but the city’s number of deaths climbed to 16, the highest in South King County followed by Renton with 15 and Enumclaw with 12 deaths.

Newly published findings suggest the spread of the virus is slowing, and continuing to practice social distancing guidelines is the most effective way to maintain the slowdown and avoid a resurgence of the illness, health officials say.

The average infected person may be likely to infect just one or fewer additional persons with COVID-19, down from an average of 2.7 persons in late February, according to the Institute for Disease Modeling in Bellevue in a study released April 14.

Public Health is encouraging the public to sustain what’s working and to continue to suppress transmissions as much as possible.

“Thanks to the tremendous work that our community has done to distance themselves and stay home, we have continued to see a decrease in transmission of COVID-19 locally,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County.

Isolation and quarantine facilities update

Isolation and quarantine is a proven public health practice for reducing the spread of disease. People who cannot safely isolate from a family member who is elderly or medically fragile, or people experiencing homelessness, can only be placed into the King County sites after a health professional with Public Health has determined that they need isolation or quarantine, according to the county.

There are 71 people staying in King County isolation and quarantine facilities.

Case updates

Public Health — Seattle & King County is reporting the following confirmed cases and deaths due to COVID-19 through 1:45 p.m. April 15, the latest numbers available.

4,697 confirmed positive cases (up 634 from one week ago, April 8)

312 confirmed deaths (up 9 from yesterday)

The “new confirmed positive cases” figure Public Health publishes each day represents all new confirmed cases reported through 11:59 p.m. the night prior. Some of these test results were processed on days prior but were delayed in being reported to Public Health.

Detailed information about demographics of those who died from COVID-19 is available on the data dashboard (www.kingcounty.gov/covid/data).

South King County cities COVID-19 results chart

City, Positive tests, deaths

Kent: 319; 16

Renton: 361; 15

Enumclaw: 63; 12

Auburn: 234; 5

Federal Way: 210; 3

SeaTac: 75; 4

Covington: 50; 1

Des Moines: 84; 0

Tukwila: 64; 0

Maple Valley: 49; 3

Other King County cities (positive tests and deaths)

Bellevue: 251; 13

Mercer Island: 66; 3

Kirkland: 245; 39

Redmond: 179; 31

Issaquah: 126; 20

Bothell: 66; 10

Kenmore: 59; 4

Snoqualmie: 19; 0

Newcastle: 19; 0

North Bend: 21; 2

Seattle: 1,478; 72

Source: Public Health—Seattle & King County