Whatcom asked for $1.3 million for a coronavirus isolation site. How many have used it?
Update: Claudia Murphy, spokesperson for Whatcom Unified Command, said Friday, May 8, that the information provided to the County Council Tuesday, May 5, was incorrect. So far, no one has been sheltered at the quarantine facility.
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The Bellingham motel that was turned into a temporary quarantine and isolation facility for people during the COVID-19 pandemic has had one resident since it opened April 23.
That’s what the Whatcom County Council learned during a briefing on Tuesday, May 5.
No information was provided about the person, who moved there in the past day or two, the council learned.
Whatcom Unified Command opened the facility at Motel 6 on Samish Way near Interstate 5 for people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or exposed to the respiratory illness but are unable to stay in their own home.
Such people could be travelers, first responders, people who live in crowded homes or group living, those who are homeless or who live with others who are at higher risk of becoming seriously ill, such as the elderly and others with weak immune systems.
Unified command is a multi-governmental agency overseeing the pandemic response for Whatcom County.
People who stay at the quarantine/isolation site don’t need hospitalization and can care for themselves. They agree to restrict their movements to prevent transmitting the virus that causes the illness to the community.
Whatcom County asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency for $1.34 million for the facility, according to an earlier story in The Bellingham Herald.
Motel 6 can house 58 people in rooms that have their own bathrooms and entrances, according to a letter from John Gargett, deputy director of the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, to Washington state’s representative to FEMA.
When it opened, just six rooms were ready for occupation, in part, because unified command couldn’t get all the supplies it needed.
Monthly fixed costs for the site total $40,000 to $50,000, including the expenses of renting a fence and for security, Erika Lautenbach, director of the Whatcom County Health Department, told the County Council during a COVID-19 briefing.
Costs go up as more people stay there.
The high end of $150,000 a month would cover things such as buying three meals a day for the maximum number of people at the facility, supplies and cleaning for all the rooms, Lautenbach said.
The facility will stay open for the time being, she said, and FEMA will be asked to reimburse the cost for the site through June.
“We’re sort of in our best-case scenario right now,” Lautenbach said.
Most Washington state residents have been at home because of Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order, she explained, adding that the facility likely will be used once more people can return to work.
Whatcom County Council member Rud Browne supported keeping the facility. If it’s empty, “that means we’ve done a really good job as a community,” he said.
Whatcom County has had 326 people test positive and 27 who died after testing positive for COVID-19, according to the health department Wednesday, May 6.
Browne believes a second wave of illness is coming and said the facility needs to be available for that.
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
