Seven more test positive for COVID-19 in Whatcom County, state says Tuesday
Seven residents have tested positive for COVID-19 in Whatcom County, according to the Washington State Department of Health on Tuesday, July 14. No new deaths were reported.
Whatcom County now has had 725 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. Monday, July 12.
The state also reported Tuesday that Whatcom County has had 63 hospitalizations and has conducted 23,360 tests, with 3.1% returning positive results.
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard, reported on Tuesday, shows Whatcom County was now making three of five Phase 2 metrics goals after making four on Monday and 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 47.9.
▪ Whatcom is making the target rate of more than 50 individuals tested for each new confirmed case the past week with a rate of 64.7.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 1.5%.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 80.8% 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 Tuesday that it was treating two patients for coronavirus.
U.S. and Washington state
More than 13.2 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 576,752 deaths as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 3.4 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 136,319 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Tuesday afternoon reported 42,304 cases (an increase of 547), 1,404 deaths (an increase of 5 from Monday) and 4,788 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 10). Approximately 3.3% of all confirmed cases in the state have resulted in death, while 5.9% of the 718,234 tests administered have come back positive for COVID-19.
New COVID death data
The Washington State Department of Health announced Tuesday that it is utilizing a new death data report that includes different categories of deaths related to COVID-19 in an effort to collect, maintain and publish more meaningful data.
The changes were announced one day after the state reported five fewer coronavirus-related deaths for Whatcom County and 39 less statewide, and similar adjustments can be expected routinely, the release stated. Whatcom’s death total dropped from 41 to 36.
The state health department is now breaking deaths that have all previously been reported as related to the respiratory illness into four categories:
▪ Confirmed deaths: Deaths that occur among those who test positive for COVID-19 and whose death certificates mention it as either the cause of or as a contributing factor. As of data released Monday evening, 89% of the state’s 1,458 COVID-19 deaths (1,301 deaths) are confirmed. In Whatcom County, 33 of the 41 COVID-19 deaths (80.5%) are confirmed.
▪ Pending deaths: Deaths that have a death certificate still pending or are missing a cause of death on the death certificate. Many of these deaths are very recent, occurred out of state or are very complex and require more information from a medical examiner or coroner. As of Monday 25 (2%) of the state’s deaths are pending, and one (2.4%) of Whatcom’s COVID-19 deaths fall in that category.
▪ Suspect deaths: Deaths that are of natural causes among those who test positive for COVID-19 but do not include the illness on the death certificate. The Department of Health follows up on these deaths to rule in or rule out COVID-19 as a cause or contributing factor. As of Monday 67 (5%) of the state’s deaths are suspect, while two (2.4%) of Whatcom’s deaths fall in this category.
▪ Non-COVID-19 deaths: Deaths that occur to people who test positive for COVID-19, but the illness was unrelated to their death. These include homicides, overdoses, accidents and other natural deaths where COVID was ruled out as contributing to the death or deaths that occur more than 60 days after a positive test result. The state identified 65 deaths (4%) that were non-COVID-19, while Whatcom has five deaths (12.2%) that fall in this category.
Confirmed, pending and suspected deaths are initially included in the state numbers, but they may be removed if further information reveals they are non-COVID-19 deaths.
“This additional information gives context for decision-makers working to stop the spread of the virus,” the Department of Health release said of the changes.
Death certificates, COVID-19 testing results, case/contact investigation information, follow-up with medical certifiers and information from local public health agencies is used to determine which category each death falls into.
In addition, the Department of Health is tracking the number of probable deaths, where the death certificates listed COVID-19 as a cause or contributing factor to the death but a positive COVID-19 death is not recorded. The state said it has identified 80 probable deaths statewide, including 10 in Whatcom County.
The release did not say how often updated data would be released.
Phased reopening
Gov. Jay Inslee said at a virtual press conference Tuesday that the pause on reopening phases under the state’s Safe Start plan will continue until at least July 28.
“We have to look where we’re going to be, not just where we are, and we are heading to big trouble if we do not figure out a way to knock this pandemic down,” he said.
He noted that the governors of Oregon and California have reinstated certain restrictions, and said that’s a possibility in Washington, as well.
Five counties remain 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.
Daily number of new confirmed cases in Whatcom County corrected July 15, 2020.
This story was originally published July 14, 2020 at 3:08 PM.
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