After Tuesday’s surge in numbers, Whatcom reports just one new coronavirus case
One day after reporting 12 new coronavirus cases over a two-day span and the county’s first related death in more than two weeks, the Whatcom County Health Department reported only one new positive test for COVID-19 on Wednesday, May 27.
Whatcom County now has had 382 confirmed cases during the pandemic, according to health department statistics, while the number of deaths related to the respiratory illness remained at 33.
The health department also reported 46 negative tests results Wednesday, bringing the total number to 7,808 and meaning that 95.3% of the 8,190 test results reported by the county have been negative.
With 38 confirmed cases reported by the health department since May 14 and a population of more than 225,000, Whatcom County is averaging 16.9 reported cases per 100,000 people over the past 14 days — down 0.4 cases from Tuesday, but still well above the 10 new cases per 100,000 residents the county needs to average to apply for a variance to move to Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Safe Start plan to re-open.
The county uses the date of illness onset to compute the official 14-day average, but those numbers are not released on a daily basis.
St. Joseph hospital reported to The Bellingham Herald that it is treating one patient who has tested positive for COVID-19, but no other patients are suspected of having the respiratory illness. The hospital also reported it has had 60 coronavirus hospitalizations during the pandemic.
As of Tuesday, May 26, the Nooksack Tribal Community reported that the Nooksack Health Clinic had tested 348 people for COVID-19 — 316 of which have come back negative and 32 tests are still pending.
The Lummi Public Health Department reported last week that 42 people have tested positive for coronavirus. All have since recovered.
More than 5.6 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 352,000 deaths as of Wednesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 1.6 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — with at least 99,724 deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health reported 20,181 cases, 1,078 deaths and 3,338 coronavirus-related hospitalizations reported as of Tuesday evening. Approximately 5.3% of all confirmed cases in the death have resulted in death, while 6.1% of the 332,791 tests administered have come back positive for COVID-19.
Phased re-opening
Three more counties were approved to move to Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Safe Start plan, according to a release Wednesday.
Kittitas County, which was previously on pause during an investigation into an outbreak, was approved, along with Thurston and Walla Walla counties.
A total of 24 counties have been approved to move to Phase 2, and three more — Clallam, Kitsap and Klickitat — are eligible to apply for a variance to move to Phase 2. Clark County previously applied for a variance, but that request has been put on pause, according to the release.
Including those four counties, 15 remain in Phase 1 of the state’s phased approach to re-opening businesses and modifying physical distancing measures. Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, King and Pierce counties are all on Phase 1.
Under Phase 1, high-risk populations are encouraged to stay home, some outdoor recreation (hunting, fishing, golf, boating and hiking) is allowed, but no public gatherings are allowed and only travel deemed essential is allowed. Businesses permitted to operate in Phase 1 include: essential businesses, existing construction projects, landscaping, automobile sales, curbside retail pickup, car washes and pet walkers.
To apply for a variance, counties must have an average of less than 10 new cases per 100,000 residents over a 14-day period.
The application process requires support from the local health officer, the local board of health, local hospitals, and the county commission/council.
Each county must demonstrate they have adequate local hospital bed capacity as well as adequate PPE supplies to keep health care workers safe. The application must include plans for:
▪ Making testing available and accessible to everyone in the county with symptoms.
▪ Staffing case investigations and contact tracing.
▪ Housing people in isolation or quarantine who can’t or don’t want to do so at home.
▪ Providing case management services to those in isolation and quarantine.
▪ Responding rapidly to outbreaks in congregate settings.
The variance requests are reviewed by the secretary of health, who can approve the plans as submitted, approve with modifications or deny the application. If circumstances change within the jurisdiction, the variance can be revoked.
Statewide modeling report
Coronavirus transmission in Western Washington is trending downward, the most recent statewide modeling report shows, according to a release from the Washington State Coronavirus Response Joint Information Center. But the news is not as good in the eastern portion of the state.
The report estimates how many new infections a single COVID-19 case will produce in different parts of the state based on data from May 3 through 12.
The report estimated that the reproductive number of the disease was below one in Western Washington, meaning the number of new cases are declining. Eastern Washington, meanwhile is seeing numbers well above one.
