One person dies, three more test positive for COVID-19 in Whatcom, state reports Friday
One death and three new positive tests for COVID-19 were reported in Whatcom County, according to the Washington State Department of Health on Friday, July 10.
Whatcom County now has had 692 confirmed cases and 41 deaths during the pandemic, according to the state. The new numbers mean 5.9% of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus in Whatcom have died — according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday, July 9.
The state also reported Friday that Whatcom County has had 62 hospitalizations and has conducted 21,765 tests, with 3.2% returning positive results.
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard reported on Friday 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 69.2.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of more than 50 individuals tested for each new confirmed case the past week with a rate of 49.7.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 2%.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 86.7% 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 Friday that it was treating two patients for coronavirus.
U.S. and Washington state
More than 12.4 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 558,562 deaths as of Friday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 3.1 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 133,940 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Friday afternoon reported 39,218 cases (an increase of 637), 1,424 deaths (15 new deaths) and 4,662 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (a decrease of 3 — the state routinely updates numbers to reflect more complete information that can lead to changes in the number ). Approximately 3.6% of all confirmed cases in the state have resulted in death, while 5.9% of the 668,466 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 until July 16 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.
Washington’s secretary of health said Wednesday, July 9, if cases of coronavirus continue to increase, it was unlikely that a current statewide pause for counties looking to advance from their current stage of reopening will be lifted at the end of the initial two-week timeframe.
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.
This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 5:00 PM.
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