Whatcom reports first death linked to coronavirus in eight days on Tuesday
For the first time in more than a week, a Whatcom County resident who tested positive for COVID-19 has died, the Whatcom County Health Department reported Tuesday, April 28.
The death is the 28th the county has seen that has been linked to the coronavirus pandemic and the first reported by the county since April 20.
No other information about the person who died was released Tuesday.
The health department also reported three more residents have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the county’s total to 293 cases.
The county also reported 328 negative test results on Tuesday, increasing the total number to 2,333.
More than 3 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 213,000 deaths as of Tuesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States topped 1 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — with at least 57,266 deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health reported 13,842 cases and 786 deaths as of Tuesday evening.
Shuksan announced death
Shuksan Healthcare Center announced Tuesday that one of the residents that it admitted after they tested positive for COVID-19 died Monday, April 27. The resident was in their 70s, but their gender was not released.
Because no other information was released by the health department on the death it reported Tuesday, it is unclear if the death reported by Shuksan is included in the 28 deaths the county is reporting.
The Bellingham nursing home announced last week that it would begin accepting new patients who have tested positive for the coronavirus. So far, the facility has admitted three people previously diagnosed with the respiratory illness, including two on Sunday.
The facility currently has 28 residents, according to numbers included in a Shuksan release Monday, 24 of whom have previously tested positive for COVID-19, two who previously tested negative, one who tested inconclusive and one who refused testing.
“It is our understanding that, including Shuksan, only three Western Washington skilled nursing facilities are admitting COVID-19 positive residents,” Shuksan said in Monday’s release. “As we have anticipated, it seems likely that Shuksan will be approached about admitting additional residents in the near future, and we are prepared to do so.”
The Whatcom County Health Department first announced a coronavirus outbreak at Shuksan on March 22. Since then, a total of 54 people at the facility tested positive — 31 residents and 23 staff members.
Before Monday’s death, 10 Shuksan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 died. An 11th, who died at home 10 days after being released from the facility, also had a test return positive the day after their death.
This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 11:48 AM.
