Whatcom misses 2 of 5 Phase 2 goals as state reports 1 death, 2 COVID-19 cases Tuesday
One Whatcom County resident who tested positive for COVID-19 has died and two more have tested positive for the respiratory illness, the Washington Health Department reported on Tuesday, June 16.
The county now has 455 confirmed cases and 39 deaths during the pandemic — meaning 8.6% of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus in Whatcom have died — according to state department of health data as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, June 15.
The state also reports the county has had 53 hospitalizations and has conducted 14,490 tests, with 3.1% returning positive results.
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard is from Monday, June 15, and it shows Whatcom County missing two of five Phase 2 metrics goals for the first time since June 4:
▪ Whatcom is making the target rate of fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents every 14 days with a rate of 20.4.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of more than 50 individuals tested for each new confirmed case the past week with a rate of 43.3.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 2.3%.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds being occupied with a rate of 71.4%.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 10% of all licensed hospital beds being occupied by COVID-19 patients with a rate of zero.
St. Joseph hospital reported to The Bellingham Herald Tuesday that it has no patients who have tested positive and no patients who are suspected to have COVID-19 for the third day in a row.
U.S. and Washington state
More than 8.1 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 440,2359 deaths as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has 2,132,171 confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 116,833 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Monday afternoon reported 26,531 cases (an increase of 373), 1,221 deaths (an increase of 10) and 3,915 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 21). Approximately 4.6% of all confirmed cases in the state have resulted in death, while 5.5% of the 480,026 tests administered have come back positive for COVID-19.
Race and ethnicity
Race and ethnicity of Whatcom County residents testing positive for COVID-19 were updated Monday for data ending Saturday, June 13.
Hispanic residents now represent 23% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county, though 9% of the county identifies as Hispanic. That case number was 15% in mid-May.
According to the health department data, 65% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Whatcom County are white, though 82% of the county’s population identifies as white.
Meanwhile, 10% of confirmed cases are for residents who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, though those races and ethnicities represent only 3% of the county’s population.
Data was not provided for Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander or Black in Whatcom County, though combined those races and ethnicity comprise only 7% of the county’s population.
The remaining 9% of the county’s coronavirus cases were listed as “other” in the health department’s data.
Case locations
Locations of Whatcom County residents testing positive for COVID-19 were also updated Monday for data ending Saturday, June 13. The county analyzes locations by school district, with Bellingham now representing 47.5% of cases, down from 56% of cases in mid-May. The rate of cases per thousand nearly tripled in Meridian and Nooksack Valley district areas.
Residents who live within the boundaries of school district regions who have been diagnosed with the respiratory illness are:
Bellingham: Up 18 cases from mid-May to 213 cases, rate per 100,000 residents rose from 173 to 189.
Blaine: Up 2 cases from mid-May to 32 cases, rate per 100,000 residents rose from 171 to 182.
Ferndale: Up 15 cases from mid-May to 64 cases, rate per 100,000 residents rose from 146 to 191.
Lynden: Up 20 cases from mid-May to 50 cases, rate per 100,000 residents rose from 148 to 247.
Meridian: Up 21 cases from mid-May to 31 cases, rate per 100,000 residents rose from 93 to 288.
Mount Baker: Up 7 cases from mid-May to 29 cases, rate per 100,000 residents rose from 139 to 184.
Nooksack Valley: Up 19 cases from mid-May to 29 cases, rate per 100,000 residents rose from 90 to 262.
Phased reopening
Whatcom County was approved Friday, June 5, to move to Phase 2 under new benchmarks announced May 29, by Gov. Jay Inslee. Whatcom will need to wait until at least June 26 before it can apply to move to Phase 3.
Whatcom was one of 22 counties in Phase 2 on Tuesday. Three counties remain in Phase 1, three counties are in a modified version of Phase 1 and 11 counties have advanced to Phase 3, according to the state Department of Health.
Phase 2 enables retail firms to resume in-store purchases, restaurants to reopen with 50% 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% capacity with table sizes no larger than 10, as well as bar areas in restaurants/taverns at 25% capacity, movie theaters at 50% capacity, and libraries and museums.
This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 4:04 PM.
