Another four people test positive for COVID-19 in Whatcom, state reports Sunday

Four new positive tests and one new hospitalization for COVID-19 was reported in Whatcom County, according to the Washington State Department of Health on Sunday, July 5. No new deaths were reported.

Whatcom County now has had 667 confirmed cases and 41 deaths during the pandemic — meaning 6.1% 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, July 4.

The state also reported Sunday that Whatcom County has had 60 hospitalizations and has conducted 20,021 tests, with 3.3% returning positive results.

The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard reported on Friday, July 3, 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 72.8.

▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of more than 50 individuals tested for each new confirmed case the past week with a rate of 21.7.

▪ Whatcom is missing the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 4.6%.

▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 96.5% 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 Sunday that it was treating two patients for coronavirus.

U.S. and Washington state

More than 11.3 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 533,343 deaths as of Sunday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 2.8 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 129,891 related deaths.

Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Saturday afternoon reported 35,898 cases (an increase of 651), 1,359 deaths (5 new deaths) and 4,482 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 9). Approximately 3.8% of all confirmed cases in the state have resulted in death, while 5.9% of the 612,706 tests administered have come back positive for COVID-19.

Phased reopening

Whatcom County is not meeting COVID-19 case count benchmarks and has not applied 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 Thursday, July 2, Inslee announced a two-week pause on counties advancing phases under the state’s Safe Start plan, and said businesses won’t be able to serve customers at their bar tops.

Five counties are now 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, barbers and gyms with some restrictions.

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.