Here’s when Whatcom will apply for Phase 2 opening for businesses
Whatcom County appears ready to meet eased state guidelines issued Friday, May 29, for Phase 2 opening of businesses closed by social-distancing orders to fight the new coronavirus pandemic.
“I’m happy to see the new criteria which Gov. Jay Inslee presented (Friday),” Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu told The Bellingham Herald.
“It looks like we’re well-positioned to move to Phase 2 in the very near future, barring any unexpected developments,” Sidhu said. “The Health Department is already working on the application, and I expect to sign it and submit to the state Secretary of Health on Monday.”
In a statement posted at its website early Friday evening, the Whatcom County Health Department urged Whatcom County residents to continue practicing good social distancing and hand hygiene and to wear a mask or face covering.
“At this time, Whatcom County remains in Phase 1 until our application is approved by the Secretary of Health,” the statement said. “Residents and businesses are asked to continue following all principles outlined in the Stay Home, Stay Healthy order, and Phase 1 guidelines until notified our application has been approved.”
Health Department officials didn’t supply new data on infection rates and testing data in its statement and officials didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for updated information.
Some 13 of Washington’s 39 counties remained in Phase 1 on Friday, including Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish and King.
In a press conference Friday afternoon, Inslee announced new benchmarks that counties must meet for more retail stores to open and for services such as hair salons to resume operation.
New standards for controlling infection spread and the ability to diagnose and treat patients include:
▪ Fewer than 25 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population over 14 days. As of Monday, May 25, 2020, Whatcom County had 37 new cases over the previous two weeks. By Friday, that number had dropped to 16 cases per 100,000.
▪ Flat or decreasing hospitalizations for lab-confirmed COVID-19. St. Joseph hospital reported Friday that it was treating one patient who tested positive for COVID-19 and two others who are suspected of having the respiratory illness.
▪ Fewer than 80% of licensed hospital beds occupied by patients and fewer than 10% of beds occupied by suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases. “We can affirm our readiness to move to Phase 2 and are actively coordinating that affirmation with the county,” hospital spokeswoman Bev Mayhew told The Herald on Thursday, May 28.
▪ Capacity to perform an average number of tests per day during the past week at a rate of 50 times the number of COVID-19 cases.
▪ One or fewer outbreaks reported per week for counties with population of 75,000 to 300,000 people. An outbreak is defined as two or more non-household cases linked by epidemiology within 14 days in a workplace, congregate living or institutional setting.
As of Thursday, Whatcom County had 21 trained, full-time disease investigators who do case investigations and contact tracing the Health Department said on it its website.
Investigators have been able to interview 94% of people who test positive for COVID-19 within 24 hours in the past month, and has been able to do contact tracing and interviews with their contacts within 48 hours for 70% of close contacts, the Health Department said.
Further, the county opened an isolation and quarantine facility in late April at the former Motel 6 in Bellingham.
That facility is for anyone who tests positive for the new coronavirus or who has been exposed to the respiratory illness and can’t safely isolate or quarantine at home.
Phase 1 allowed the reopening of retail (curbside pick-up orders only); automobile, recreational vehicle, boat, and off-road vehicle sales; landscaping, car washes, and pet walkers.
Phase 2 enables retail firms to resume in-store purchases, restaurants to reopen with 50 percent capacity and table sizes no larger than 5, and the re-start of new construction, real estate, hair and nail salons, and barbers.
Phase 3 allows restaurants/taverns to reopen at 75 percent capacity with tables sizes no larger than 10, as well as bar areas in restaurants/taverns at 25 percent capacity, movie theaters at 50 percent capacity, and libraries and museums.
James Drew and Denver Pratt contributed to this story.
This story was originally published May 29, 2020 at 6:21 PM.
