Thirteen new positive COVID-19 tests in Whatcom County, state reports Wednesday
Thirteen more Whatcom County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health reported on Wednesday, July 1. No new deaths were reported for the county on Wednesday.
Whatcom County now has had 635 confirmed cases and continues to have had 40 deaths during the pandemic — meaning 6.3% of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus in Whatcom have died — according to state department of health data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, June 30.
The state also reports the county has had 57 hospitalizations and has conducted 18,714 tests, with 3.4% returning positive results.
Lummi Nation on Wednesday reported its 43rd case of the new coronavirus in a community member, according to the Lummi Public Health Department post on Facebook. Close contacts are being identified and will be instructed to self-quarantine and COVID-19 testing will be offered to those who were exposed and experiencing symptoms, according to the post.
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard on Wednesday shows Whatcom County was missing four 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 67.58.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of more than 50 individuals tested for each new confirmed case the past week with a rate of 19.
▪ 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 missing the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 88.6% 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 0.8% reported by the state.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Wednesday that it was treating two patients for coronavirus.
U.S. and Washington state
More than 10.65 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 514,527 deaths as of Wednesday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 2.678,202 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 127,970 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Wednesday evening reported 33,435 cases (an increase of 611), 1,339 deaths (7 new deaths) and 4,402 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 41). Approximately 4.0% of all confirmed cases in the state have resulted in death, while 5.8% of the 571,964 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 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.
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 5:31 PM.
