Whatcom COVID-19 cases rise by 8 Monday, but state reports death total shrinks by 5
Eight residents tested positive for COVID-19 in Whatcom County, according to the Washington State Department of Health on Monday, July 13.
The state also reported Monday that the number of Whatcom County deaths linked to coronavirus has been reduced by five. The number of the deaths reported statewide also reduced by 39 Monday.
A note posted on the state department of health’s website said that the deaths that were removed from the state and county totals after a review deemed them “natural deaths” and COVID-19 was not found to cause or contribute to the deaths.
“The department is continuing to work on changes to provide more context to death reporting and report death counts that reflect deaths where COVID-19 caused or contributed to the death,” the post read.
The post said the department will continue to update deaths as more information is received.
It is not the first time the number of Whatcom County’s coronavirus-related deaths has been reduced. There were similar corrections by the Whatcom County Health Department on May 3 (reduction of one) and May 31 (reduction of three), and on July 8, the state health department reduced the total by one, saying that a death from Yakima County had been added to Whatcom’s total.
Whatcom County now has had 718 confirmed cases and 36 deaths during the pandemic, according to the state. The new numbers mean 5.0% of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus in Whatcom have died — according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, July 12.
The state also reported Monday that Whatcom County has had 63 hospitalizations and has conducted 23,148 tests, with 3.1% returning positive results.
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard, reported on Monday, shows Whatcom County was now making four of five Phase 2 metrics goals after making only one last week:
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents every 14 days with a rate of 50.2.
▪ Whatcom is making the target rate of more than 50 individuals tested for each new confirmed case the past week with a rate of 55.8.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 1.8%.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 77.3% 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 1.2% reported by the state.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Monday that it was treating three patients for coronavirus.
Whatcom case locations
Most of Whatcom County saw coronavirus transmission rates continue to slow last week, as only one region had more than 10% growth in the number of confirmed new COVID-19 cases.
The Whatcom County Health Department, which releases data on COVID-19 transmission by school district, published new data on its website Monday, July 13.
Residents who live in the Ferndale School District had the county’s highest rate of growth since data was last released on July 5 — the fourth time in five weeks the region has seen growth higher than 10%.
Though most of the districts in northern parts of the county have slowed in recent weeks, those areas still have had more COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents than in Bellingham. Here is what the data showed for the seven regions in the county:
Bellingham: Up 6.1% (17 cases) since July 5 to 297 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 264.
Blaine: Up 2.2% (One case) since July 5 to 46 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 262.
Ferndale: Up 12.0% (12 cases) since July 5 to 112 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 335.
Lynden: Up 1.7% (two cases) since July 5 to 122 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 603.
Meridian: Up 7.1% (four cases) since July 5 to 60 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 557.
Mount Baker: Up 6.1% (two cases) since July 5 to 35 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 222.
Nooksack Valley: Up 7.0% (three cases) since July 5 to 46 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 416.
Race and ethnicity
Race and ethnicity of Whatcom County residents testing positive for COVID-19 also were updated Monday, and for the first time data was released on the number of people identifying as Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander that have been impacted by the illness.
Data has previously been suppressed due by the health department due to the low number of cases, but Monday’s data show that the races account for 3% of the county’s coronaviurs cases — slightly lower than the 5% of Whatcom’s population that identifies as Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.
Data is still being suppressed for Whatcom’s Black population, which accounts for 2% of the county’s population.
Hispanic residents, who can be of any race, represent 25% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county — unchanged from data released July 5 — 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 residents — also unchanged from July 5 — though 82% of the county’s population identifies as white.
Meanwhile, 6% of confirmed cases are for residents who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native — down from 7% on July 5 — though those races represent only 3% of the county’s population.
The remaining 11% of the county’s coronavirus cases were listed as “other” in the health department’s data.
U.S. and Washington state
More than 12.9 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 570,000 deaths as of Monday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 3.3 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 135,400 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Sunday evening reported 41.757 cases (an increase of 1,101), 1,399 deaths (39 fewer deaths than what was reported Sunday) and 4,778 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 27). Approximately 3.4% of all confirmed cases in the state have resulted in death, while 5.9% of the 708,274 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 13, 2020 at 12:29 PM.
