Report details Whatcom COVID-19 deaths, cases associated with long-term care facilities
A total of 145 COVID-19 cases and 30 deaths in Whatcom County have been associated with long-term care facilities as of June 1, according to new Washington State Department of Health report.
That represented 36% of the county’s confirmed cases, which totaled 401, and all of the deaths related to the new coronavirus as of that date, according to information compiled by The Bellingham Herald.
“These cases include residents as well as employees and visitors. Not all of these cases were exposed at a LTC facility,” the report states. “Many cases visited multiple places during their exposure period, and some individuals may have visited a LTC facility after disease onset.”
Long-term care facilities include nursing homes, assisted living spaces or adult family homes, according to the report.
The report, which will be updated weekly, didn’t name the facilities in Whatcom County or in the rest of the state. The period it covers goes back to February. The data, which is preliminary, is broken down by county.
Confirmed cases are attributed to the county in which people live, not the county in which the facility they are associated with is located, the report states.
Statewide, a total of 3,860 COVID-19 cases and 690 deaths have been associated with a long-term care facility as of June 1, according to the report. Of the total number of cases, 169 are pending confirmation.
The numbers represent 18% of total cases and 61% of total deaths respectively in the state as of that date, according to the report.
Whatcom County has 420 confirmed cases and 38 deaths during the pandemic — meaning 9% of people diagnosed with the respiratory illness in the county have died — according to state department of health data as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, June 8, the most recent data available.
