Awaiting Phase 2 decision from state, Whatcom sees two new coroanvirus cases Thursday
As Whatcom County continues to await word whether it can begin re-opening under Phase 2 of Washington’s Safe Start plan, the State Department of Health reported the county has two new confirmed coronavirus cases Thursday, June 4. No new deaths were reported, though.
The county now has 404 confirmed cases and 37 deaths during the pandemic — meaning 9.2% of people diagnosed with the respiratory illness in Whatcom have died — according to state department of health data as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, June 3. The state also reported Whatcom had one new case in data it released Tuesday night.
The state also reports the county has 53 hospitalizations, has conducted 10,222 tests, with 4.0% returning positive results.
As with all other county’s applications to change phases received this week, Whatcom County’s application to move to Phase 2 is still being reviewed, Director John Wiesman said during a press conference with Gov. Jay Inslee Thursday.
“Nothing is holding up any of the applications,” Wiesman said. “We know that people are anxious to get their answers. We’re moving as quickly as we can and want to be thorough, as well, while we do that. We appreciate everybody’s patience as we complete those reviews.”
The Whatcom County Health Department has stopped releasing coronavirus data that is independent from COVID-19 data the state is releasing for the county.
The county health department in a press release Wednesday announced that it has launched a new, interactive COVID-19 dashboard that it says displays new metrics and should allow for better comparisons to other counties. The new dashboard still provides the same information that was previously available on the county’s page, including epidemiological curves and case counts, but in an interactive format and with new daily numbers.
County health department spokesperson Melissa Morin told The Bellingham Herald that the state and county use different definitions to determine which deaths are related to COVID-19, and as of Tuesday, the county was reporting only 30 deaths related to coronavirus. Wednesday’s release said it expected these differences to be reconciled in the coming days.
Also Thursday, the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard now shows Whatcom County is falling short of the target goals in three of the five key metrics displayed — number of individuals tested per positive result (Whatcom is at 14.4, while the goal is more than 50), percent of individuals testing positive in the past week (Whatcom is at 6.9%, while the goal is less than 2%) and percent of hospital beds occupied (Whatcom is at 82.2%, while the goal is less than 80%).
On Wednesday, Whatcom was well under the goal for hospital beds occupied, but it is still making the target in the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks (Whatcom is at 17.3, while the goal is less than 25) and percent of hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 cases (Whatcom is at 0.8%, while the goal is less than 10%).
St. Joseph hospital reported to The Bellingham Herald Thursday that it has two patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 and two other awaiting test results.
More than 6.5 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 388,000 deaths as of Thursday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 1.8 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 108,051 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Thursday night reported 22,729 cases (an increase of 572), 1,138 deaths (an increase of nine) and 3,616 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 72). Approximately 5.0% of all confirmed cases in the state have resulted in death, while 5.9% of the 383,587 tests administered have come back positive for COVID-19.
Phased reopening
Whatcom County is one of 12 Washington state counties still waiting to move to Phase 2 after they meet new benchmarks announced Friday, May 29, by Gov. Jay Inslee.
Members of the Whatcom County Council, acting as the county Health Board, voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the Health Department’s application for a Phase 2 variance and send it to the state for consideration.
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.
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 4:52 PM.
