Whatcom reports 5 new positive tests and no new deaths linked to coronavirus Saturday

Five new cases of COVID-19 were reported by the Whatcom County Health Department, Saturday, April 18. No new deaths linked to the new coronavirus were reported.

The county currently has 276 confirmed cases and 25 deaths. Negative tests for COVID-19 remained at 1,286.

The most affected group are adults 80 years and older, who represent 25% of the confirmed cases. In total, adults 60 and older represent nearly half of the confirmed cases at 47%.

The least affected group are young people under 19, who comprise only 3% of total cases.

The five new cases reported Saturday follows Friday, April 17, when for the first time in 32 days, the health department reported both no new positive tests for COVID-19 and no new deaths related to the new coronavirus.

The last time the county saw no increase in the number of cases was on March 19 — the day the county reported its first death related to coronavirus. The last time no new cases or deaths were reported was March 16, when there were only three positive tests and no deaths.

Friday’s report also continued a recent slowing trend of new cases, as the county has reported only 10 new positive tests since Saturday, April 11, when 11 new positives were reported.

More than 2.29 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 158,000 deaths as of Saturday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 716,000 confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — with at least 35,000 deaths.

Overall, the Washington State Department of Health reported 11,445 cases and 603 deaths as of Friday evening.

This story was originally published April 18, 2020 at 12:37 PM.