Whatcom reports 2 more coronavirus cases Thursday; not ready to apply for Phase 2
Two more Whatcom County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, according to data released by the Whatcom County Health Department Thursday, May 28, and the county did not move any closer to being able to apply to move to Phase 2 of the state’s coronavirus re-opening plan.
With 38 confirmed cases reported by the health department since May 15 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 — unchanged from Wednesday and 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.
The county has had 384 confirmed coronavirus cases during the pandemic and has had 33 related deaths, according to county health department statistics. The county last reported a death related to COVID-19 on Tuesday, May 26.
The Washington State Department of Health, which uses different reporting criteria than the county, reported Whatcom County has 380 confirmed cases and 36 deaths as of Wednesday night.
The county health department also reported 142 more negative test results on Thursday, bringing the total to 7,950 — 95.4% of the 8,334 test results that the county has reported.
St. Joseph hospital reported to The Bellingham Herald Thursday that it is treating one patient who has tested positive for COVID-19 and three others who are suspected of having the respiratory illness. The hospital also reported it so far has had 62 coronavirus hospitalizations during the pandemic.
As of Wednesday, the Nooksack Tribal Community reported that the Nooksack Health Clinic had tested 364 people for COVID-19 — 348 of which have come back negative and 16 tests are still pending.
More than 5.9 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 357,000 deaths as of Thursday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 1.7 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and has surpassed 100,000 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health reported 20,406 cases, 1,095 deaths and 3,394 coronavirus-related hospitalizations reported as of Wednesday night. Approximately 5.4% of all confirmed cases in the death have resulted in death, while 6.1% of the 335,801 tests administered have come back positive for COVID-19.
Phased re-opening
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.
Close contact change
The Washington State Department of Health in a press release Wednesday said that it has increased the amount of time it uses to define close contact to someone with COVID-19 by five minutes.
The new guidance says that close contact is defined as someone who was within six feet of someone with COVID-19 for at least 15 minutes. The old definition was 10 minutes.
The change was made to align the state’s definition with new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.
“Our guidance has changed over time as we learn more about COVID-19, and will continue to do so in the future,” State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy said in a news release. “This update doesn’t change our recommendations for members of the public. We continue to urge people to maintain physical distance to protect themselves and others.”
