One new positive COVID-19 tests in Whatcom County, state reports Sunday
One more Whatcom County residents has tested positive for COVID-19, the Washington Health Department reported on Sunday, June 28. No new deaths were reported for the county on Sunday.
Whatcom County now has had 600 confirmed cases and continues to have had 40 deaths during the pandemic — meaning 6.7% of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus in Whatcom have died — according to state department of health data as of 11:59 p.m. Saturday, June 27.
The state also reports the county has had 55 hospitalizations and has conducted 17,567 tests, with 3.4% returning positive results.
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard is from Thursday and shows Whatcom County missing three of five Phase 2 metrics goals:
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents every 14 days with a rate of 43.1.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of more than 50 individuals tested for each new confirmed case the past week with a rate of 35.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 2.9%.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds with 71.4% reported by the state.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 10% of all licensed hospital beds being occupied by COVID-19 patients with 0% reported by the state.
St. Joseph hospital reported to The Bellingham Herald Sunday that it has two patients who have tested positive.
U.S. and Washington state
More than 10 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with at least 500,306 deaths as of Sunday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has 2,542,675 confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 125,763 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Sunday afternoon reported 31,752 cases (an increase of 348), 1,310 deaths (no new deaths) and 4,275 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 35). Approximately 4.1% of all confirmed cases in the state have resulted in death, while 5.9% of the 534,443 tests administered have come back positive for COVID-19.
Phased reopening
Whatcom County is not meeting COVID-19 case count benchmarks and did not apply last week to move into Phase 3 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s reopening plan.
Whatcom County moved to Phase 2 on June 5, making Friday, June 26, the earliest date the county could apply for Phase 3.
On Saturday, June 27, Inslee announced that the Washington Department of Health “is putting a pause” on counties moving into Phase 4 under the “Safe Start” plan.
As positive cases of COVID-19 continue to spread across the state, moving into Phase 4, which means basically no restrictions, is “impossible at this time,” according to a news release.
Three counties are in Phase 1, two counties are in a modified version of Phase 1, 17 counties — including Whatcom — are in Phase 2 and 17 counties are in Phase 3.
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.
