Seven more test positive for COVID-19 in Whatcom County, state says Wednesday
Seven residents have tested positive for COVID-19 in Whatcom County, according to the Washington State Department of Health on Wednesday, July 15. No new deaths were reported.
Whatcom County now has had 732 confirmed cases and 36 deaths during the pandemic, according to the state. The new numbers mean 4.9% of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus in Whatcom have died — according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, July 14.
The state also reported Wednesday that Whatcom County has had 63 hospitalizations and has conducted 23,880 tests, with 3.1% returning positive results.
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard, reported on Wednesday, shows Whatcom County making three 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 46.6.
▪ Whatcom is making the target rate of more than 50 individuals tested for each new confirmed case the past week with a rate of 67.5.
▪ 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 81.6% 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 1.2% reported by the state.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Wednesday that it was treating three patients for coronavirus.
U.S. and Washington state
Almost 13.5 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 582,596 deaths as of Wednesday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has almost 3.5 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 137,277 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Wednesday evening reported 43,046 cases (an increase of 742), 1,421 deaths (an increase of 17) and 4,829 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 41). Approximately 3.3% of all confirmed cases in the state have resulted in death, while 5.9% of the 733,886 tests administered have come back positive for COVID-19.
Drive-thru testing pilot
From her personal experience working alongside volunteers to help register people for Whatcom County’s pilot drive-thru COVID-19 testing program last weekend, Whatcom County Health Department Director Erika Lautenbach said she estimated 90% of people being tested reported they had no symptoms or known exposure to coronavirus.
That may have helped account for why only six of the nearly 800 tests taken over the two days from the Civic Stadium parking lot — less than 1% — came back positive, Lautenbach said during an online media briefing about the pilot program. For comparison, 3.1% of the 23,360 tests administered in the county during the pandemic have yielded positive results, according to data through July 13 released by the Washington State Department of Health.
“People still chose to come, even if they had a healthcare provider and insurance,” Lautenbach said.
To help better understand why and if additional barriers should be removed from testing in Whatcom County, Lautenbach said some different questions will be asked during the registration process for the second half of the pilot program this weekend.
The next round of testing, which is free, is set for 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, July 17 and 18, at the Civic Field Stadium parking lot.
A total of 793 people were tested during the 12 hours the site was open last weekend, according to information from the Whatcom County Health Department on Tuesday, July 14.
Whatcom Unified Command Incident Commander Scott McCreery said 65 volunteers, including licensed medical personnel, Whatcom County and city of Bellingham staff members and other residents, filled 105 shifts over the two days last weekend.
McCreery said many of the 793 people who were tested waited more than two hours in line.
“We appreciate the patience people showed,” McCreery said. “I was deeply impressed with the patience and kindness people showed to each other and our staff and volunteers.”
Though he said waits will likely still be long this weekend, McCreery said changes are being made in an effort to speed things along. Real-time updates on wait times will be posted through the county’s health department and unified command Facebook pages.
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.
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 5:32 PM.
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