King County COVID-19 Community Study (KC3S)

The speed and impact of COVID-19’s spread across the globe was unprecedented in modern history. In the absence of medical countermeasures, communities around the world resorted to a variety of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), including school closures, travel restrictions, cancellation of mass gatherings, closure of small businesses, and “stay at home orders,” to control the disease.

King County, WA, was among the first US communities affected by COVID-19. The King County COVID-19 Community Study (KC3S) aimed to characterize, in real time, how NPIs impacted the lives and wellbeing of individuals, families, and communities, as well as the ways in which individuals, families, and communities adapted and coped. KC3S used a convenience sampling approach to collect data from King County, WA residents in March – May 2020 through a web-based survey. KC3S complimented several national and international surveys distributed in response to COVID-19 by providing individual accounts of impacts and resilience in the context of community-specific COVID-19 impacts and implementation of NPIs.

Here, we share the KC3S protocol and dataset, including: study background, objectives, study design, KC3S website materials in English and Spanish, KC3S survey instruments in English and Spanish, and a de-identified dataset and data dictionary. These materials can be used by other researchers interested in capturing experiences in other communities during the pandemic or in the context of other disasters. No personally identifiable information is shared.