This Whatcom community’s residents can be tested for coronavirus, even minus symptoms
The fire chief for Point Roberts, a small, secluded community in Whatcom County, has made it possible for residents to be tested for the virus that causes COVID-19, even if they don’t have symptoms of the infectious respiratory illness.
Christopher Carleton arranged for the first drive-thru testing effort in Point Roberts on Saturday, April 11, when 66 people were tested. He hoped to test another 70 on Sunday, April 19, using collection kits provided by Northwest Laboratory in Bellingham.
In all, Carleton, the chief for Whatcom County Fire District 5, wants to eventually test up to 400 people in Point Roberts — roughly 30% of its year-round residents — because one of his goals is to obtain a big picture of the virus in his community by testing a statistical cross-section of residents.
That big picture, according to Carleton, includes getting a sense of how many residents don’t have symptoms but carry the virus — a concern not only in Point Roberts but nationally as leaders grapple with the true extent of the illness and what some call “silent spreaders” amid questions about when it could be safe to lift stay-at-home orders so people can return to work and gather in groups once again.
Northwest Laboratory has so far provided the fire district with 200 kits to allow for people to be swabbed for the virus and the samples collected for transportation to the lab in Bellingham, according to Jenny Bull, the lab’s chief operating officer.
Why Point Roberts?
Point Roberts is 55 miles north of Bellingham, 23 of them through British Columbia. A round trip requires four border crossings, as the lobe of land dangling from Canada south into the U.S. was separated from the mainland by the 1846 Treaty of Washington.
It is home to Canadians and Americans and those with citizenship in both countries. Just 1,300 to 1,400 people live there year-round, though its population swells with an influx of Canadians in summer.
Point Roberts’ geographical quirk is one reason Carleton said he brought testing to his community, where cross-border trips between the U.S. and Canada have been banned except for essential and trade workers since March 18 to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
In Point Roberts, traffic has dropped from about 2,300 entries a day to about 120, according to Western Washington University’s Border Policy Research Institute.
“People here just can’t drive and go to somewhere in the county because of the border restrictions that are currently in place. That’s why it’s so critical and valuable for my community to have on-site testing within Point Roberts,” Carleton said.
He said Point Roberts residents might be able to travel into Whatcom County to get tested, but the logistics of doing that could be an issue.
Testing focus
In Whatcom County, testing capacity is beginning to increase — Northwest Laboratory is providing testing to patients who are going into emergency dental and medical procedures so their health-care providers know if someone has the coronavirus — but the overall focus has been on testing people with symptoms and prioritizing certain groups.
In order to test residents, Carleton said he had to have Alexander McBean, a PeaceHealth doctor in Bellingham and the supervising physician for the fire district, order the kits from Northwest Laboratory.
“He’s been instrumental in our process,” Carleton said.
Other than working to test a cross-section of the community to get a baseline of the virus in Point Roberts, one other reason Carleton said he wanted to bring broader testing there was because of the age of the residents.
About 70% of the community is older than 60, he said.
COVID-19 is particularly dangerous for those who are elderly.
In Washington state, those who are 60 and older make up 35% of all confirmed cases of COVID-19 but 92% of the deaths from those who have tested positive, according to state Department of Health data.
The information doesn’t include where the elderly were living, whether in their own home or at long-term care facilities, when they contracted the virus.
In Whatcom County, seniors 60 and older make up 46.2% of confirmed cases of COVID-19 but all of the deaths of those who have tested positive, according to data from the Whatcom County Health Department.
As of Sunday, April 19, a total of 26 Whatcom County residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 have died.
Another reason for the testing effort, Carleton said, was to help provide support for those who are confirmed COVID-19 cases so they don’t leave self-isolation to go out into the community because they run out of necessities and don’t have assistance.
Who can get tested
Testing is voluntary, and people don’t have to have symptoms of COVID-19.
Carleton invited essential workers to get tested because they’re most in front of the public.
Those workers include first responders, grocery store employees, truck drivers, postal workers, and health care providers with Circle of Care, which is an in-home health care service in Point Roberts, among others.
He also invited people who traveled outside of Washington state. Point Roberts has residents who have dual American-Canadian citizenship and some have been crossing the border regularly for essential reasons, the chief said.
Most who went through the drive-thru testing Saturday were older than 60, Carleton said.
As for what test results showed, “I can tell you our community is doing great at this point.”
Carleton was among those receiving a test and said his results came back negative.
He said he will continue offering the tests to residents and if rapid testing or antibody testing becomes available, which would indicate whether someone has been infected in the past and may have immunity to the virus, he’ll try to bring that to Point Roberts as well.
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
