Whatcom’s negative coronavirus test results continue to grow with 56 more Saturday
The Whatcom County Health Department reported Saturday, May 16, that another 56 county residents have tested negative for COVID-19, meaning 1,284 negative test results have been reported the past four days.
The county is now reporting 4,519 negative coronavirus test results — 92.7% of the 4,872 total test results that have been announced.
The Bellingham Herald has asked Whatcom Unified Command, the multi-governmental agency that’s directing local pandemic response, the reason behind the recent surge in the number of test results reported and has not yet received an answer.
The health department recorded three new positive test results on Friday, May 15, and four on Saturday, bringing the county’s total number of confirmed cases to 353.
The county health department also reported the number of coronavirus-related deaths remained steady at 32 on Saturday, though the Washington State Department of Health reported Thursday night that Whatcom County has had 35 deaths linked to COVID-19.
The Herald has reached out to Whatcom Unified Command for clarification on the discrepancy between county and state numbers, though testing numbers reported by the two departments have often not matched.
The county health department has previously told The Herald that, since it is not a healthcare provider, it is not able to track the number of COVID-positive patients that have recovered.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported Saturday that it has no patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 and no other patients suspected of having the respiratory illness. That’s the first time in the 12 days it has reported information to The Herald that there are no patients or suspected cases.
Meanwhile, a COVID-19 outbreak was declared Friday at Abbotsford Regional Hospital in Canada, about 45 minutes from downtown Bellingham, as six staff and one patient have all tested positive for the virus according to The Abbotsford News.
More than 4.5 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 309,000 deaths as of Saturday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 1.4 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — with at least 85,990 deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health reported 17,951 cases and 992 deaths as of Friday evening.