Whatcom has 8 new COVID cases Monday, state says, while 2 areas in county see surges
Eight more Whatcom County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 according to the Washington State Department of Health on Monday, July 20. No new deaths have been reported.
Whatcom County now has had 788 confirmed cases and 37 deaths during the pandemic, according to the state. The new numbers mean 4.7% 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 19.
The state also reported Monday that Whatcom County has had 67 hospitalizations and has conducted 27,181 tests, with 2.9% returning positive results. The state removed one hospitalization from Friday’s report.
The state Department of Health announced Tuesday, July 14, 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. That dropped the number of dead attributed to Whatcom County from 41 to 36. Similar adjustments can be expected routinely, the state said.
A new death was reported Friday, July 17.
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard, reported on Monday, July 19, shows Whatcom County making two of five Phase 2 metrics goals after making four the five the last time the dashboard was released on Thursday, July 16:
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents every 14 days with a rate of 47.5.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of more than 50 individuals tested for each new confirmed case the past week with a rate of 48.4.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 2.1%.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 74.1% 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 five patients for coronavirus.
Whatcom’s COVID case locations
A pair of northern Whatcom County communities once again saw a surge in new coronavirus cases last week, as the county’s COVID-19 infection rate overall experienced a bit of a jump.
The Whatcom County Health Department, which releases data on COVID-19 positive tests by school district, published new data on its website Monday, July 20.
A week after every school district except one logged single-digit growth rates, two districts — Ferndale and Meridian — had rates of at least 23% growth. Those rates were well above the 9.5% growth the entire county saw between July 13 and 20.
Though some 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 4.7% (14 cases) since July 12 to 311 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 277.
Blaine: Up 6.5% (three cases) since July 12 to 49 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 279.
Ferndale: Up 23.2% (26 cases) since July 12 to 138 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 413.
Lynden: Up 7.4% (nine cases) since July 12 to 131 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 647.
Meridian: Up 25.0% (15 cases) since July 12 to 75 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 697 — the highest in Whatcom County.
Mount Baker: Up 2.9% (one case) since July 12 to 36 cases, and the rate per 100,000 residents increased to 228 — the lowest in Whatcom County.
Nooksack Valley: Had no new cases since July 5 to remain at 46 cases and a rate per 100,000 residents of 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.
Hispanic residents, who can be of any race, represent 26% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county — slighly up from 25% from data released July 13 — though 9% of the county identifies as Hispanic.
According to the health department data, 66% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Whatcom County are white residents — a drop from data released July 13 — 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 — unchanged from July 12 — though those races represent only 3% of the county’s population.
Asian and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents account for 3% of the county’s coronavirus cases — unchanged from July 12 — though those raced represent 5% of the county’s population.
Data is still being suppressed for Whatcom’s Black population, which accounts for 2% of the county’s population, due to the low number of cases in that demographic.
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 14.6 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 608,572 deaths as of Monday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has over 3.81 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 140,879 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Monday afternoon reported 47,743 cases (an increase of 797), 1,453 deaths (an increase of six) and 5,102 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 39). Approximately 3.0% of all confirmed cases in the state have resulted in death, while 5.8% of the 826,354 tests administered have come back positive for COVID-19.
Barista tests positive
A barista at Cruisin Coffee, a chain of drive-up coffee shops in Whatcom County, tested positive for COVID-19 on July 15, owner Ed Mack told The Bellingham Herald.
Mack said in an email that the employee had not worked since July 13 and that the employee and others who worked with that employee were given paid 14-day leave.
“We are in full communication and compliance with the Whatcom County Health Department and will continue to proceed as they advise,” Mack said.
None of the workers who were exposed to the sick employee are experiencing symptoms, and two have tested negative, Mack said.
Amy Cloud, spokeswoman for Whatcom Unified Command, told The Herald that the Health Department doesn’t provide cluster, industry, or employer-specific data about COVID-19 outbreaks unless “there were a potential public exposure in which we could not identify close contacts.”
Mack told The Herald that his employees have been getting extra pay for working during the pandemic and that his staff was using gloves and masks before they were required by the state.
He also denied as false several social media posts shared Monday, July 20, alleging his daughter was sick and continued to work.
“This 19-year-old girl is taking crossfire that she should not have to,” Mack said. “Our staff that has worked through this pandemic, have been compensated beyond their regular pay. We so appreciate our staff and customers. Cruisin Coffee will continue to serve quality products in a fast and friendly manner with the staff and customer safety as our highest priority.”
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.
On Monday, Washington State Secretary of Health John Wiesman announced that he is returning the Safe Start applications for seven counties due to Inslee’s reopening pause. The returned applications included applications to move to Phase 3 for Clark, Cowlitz, Jefferson, Kitsap, Klickitat, San Juan and Walla Walla counties, a Department of Health release stated.
“It remains critical that everyone continues to do their part to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Wiesman said in the release. “Wear a face covering in any public setting or place where you can’t keep at least 6 feet of distance from people who are not members of your immediate household. In addition, stay home as much as possible, limit the number of people that you interact with, wash your hands and cover your coughs and sneezes.”
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 allows restaurants and taverns to operate at half capacity with table occupancy limited to five, hair and nail salons and barber shops to resume business, and retail stores to reopen for in-store purchases at 30% capacity. It also allows additional outdoor recreation and gatherings with no more than five people outside of a person’s household.
Phase 3 allows gyms and movie theaters to operate at half capacity and restaurants to increase capacity to 75%. A prohibition on bar seating at restaurants and taverns was added in this phase earlier in July.
This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 12:39 PM.
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