Whatcom’s coronavirus cases grow by 7, while data shows north county surge continues
Seven more Whatcom County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health reported on Tuesday, June 30. No new deaths were reported for the county on Tuesday.
Whatcom County now has had 622 confirmed cases and continues to have had 40 deaths during the pandemic — meaning 6.4% 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 29.
The state also reports the county has had 56 hospitalizations and has conducted 18,186 tests, with 3.4% returning positive results.
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard Tuesday 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 64.8.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of more than 50 individuals tested for each new confirmed case the past week with a rate of 18.8.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 5.3%.
▪ 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 0.0% reported by the state.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Tuesday that it is treating three patients for coronavirus.
U.S. and Washington state
More than 10.3 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 508,000 deaths as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 2.6 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 127,258 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Tuesday afternoon reported 32,824 cases (an increase of 571), 1,332 deaths (12 new deaths) and 4,361 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 38). Approximately 4.1% of all confirmed cases in the state have resulted in death, while 5.9% of the 557,275 tests administered have come back positive for COVID-19.
Whatcom case locations
Locations of Whatcom County residents testing positive for COVID-19 were updated Tuesday and showed northern parts of the county are still seeing the virus spread at much higher rates. The county analyzes locations by school district, with Bellingham now representing 41.6% of cases, down from 44.6% of cases in data reported June 22.
Residents who live within the boundaries of school district regions who have been diagnosed with the respiratory illness are:
Bellingham: Up 19.2% (42 cases) since June 22 to 261 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 232.
Blaine: Up 8.3% (three cases) since June 22 to 39 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 222.
Ferndale: Up 29.6% (21 cases) since June 22 to 92 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 275.
Lynden: Up 54.1% (40 cases) since June 22 to 114 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 563.
Meridian: Up 62.5% (20 cases) since June 22 to 52 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 483.
Mount Baker: Up 10.3% (three cases) since June 22 to 32 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 203.
Nooksack Valley: Up 26.7% (eight cases) since June 22 to 38 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 343.
Race and ethnicity
Race and ethnicity of Whatcom County residents testing positive for COVID-19 also were updated Tuesday.
Hispanic residents, who can be of any race, now represent 27% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county — up from 21% on June 22 — though 9% of the county identifies as Hispanic.
According to the health department data, 70% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Whatcom County are white — down from 71% on June 22 — though 82% of the county’s population identifies as white.
Meanwhile, 9% of confirmed cases are for residents who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, though those races 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 comprise only 7% of the county’s population combined.
The remaining 10% of the county’s coronavirus cases were listed as “other” in the health department’s data.
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 have applied 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.
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.
Staying close to home
The Washington State Department of Health on Tuesday also encouraged the state’s residents to limit summer travel plans in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.
“We still want people to limit their travel,” state health officer Dr. Kathy Lofy said in a release. “We have places in Washington with a lot of COVID-19 activity. If there’s a lot of cross-state travel this summer, that could spread disease around the state.”
If people do decide to travel, they are encouraged to stay closer to home and follow the travel recommendations within their counties.
The Department of Health also cautioned against traveling out of the state to other areas that are COVID-19 hotspots and possibly bringing the virus back to their communities.
“Travel that includes sightseeing and dining out can increase the spread of the disease. If everyone goes about their lives as normal this summer we will likely see a resurgence of cases and may need to close down businesses again which we don’t want to do,” Secretary of Health John Wiesman said in the release. “So we want to see people stay close to home.”
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 4:43 PM.
