Whatcom County sees one death, 18 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, state says
One person died and 18 more Whatcom County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 according to the Washington State Department of Health on Tuesday, July 28.
Whatcom County now has had 871 confirmed cases and 38 deaths during the pandemic, according to the state. The new numbers mean 4.4% 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 27.
The 18 new cases mean July, with several days left, has had the most cases in a month in Whatcom County, with 249 so far. June had 230 cases; May was the low point with 88 cases; April had 163 cases and March, when the first case was reported on the 10th, had 139 cases.
The state also reported Tuesday that Whatcom County has had 76 hospitalizations and has conducted 30,446 tests, with 2.9% returning positive results.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Tuesday that it was treating four patients for the new coronavirus. The most-ever COVID-19 patients at the Bellingham hospital was 11 on March 31.
Risk assessment data
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard, reported on Tuesday, shows Whatcom County making two 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 57.7.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of more than 50 individuals tested for each new confirmed case the past week with a rate of 46.2.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 2.2%.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 76.5% 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 1.6% reported by the state.
U.S. and Washington state
More than 16.6 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 658,813 deaths as of Tuesday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has over 4.34 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 149,180 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Tuesday evening reported 54,205 cases (an increase of 884), 1,548 deaths (an increase of 30) and 5,474 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 77). Approximately 2.9% of all confirmed cases in the state have resulted in death, while 5.7% of the 945,234 tests administered have come back positive for COVID-19.
B.C. berry packing outbreak
Head British Columbia health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reported Monday that 15 workers at an Abbotsford, B.C., berry processing plant have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a story published by the Abbotsford News.
Henry reportedly said Fraser Health began investigating the outbreak on Thursday at Fraser Valley Packers, which confirmed the outbreak in a press release.
Fraser Health is screening all employees at the Abbotsford facility, which is located near the U.S.-Canada border, and is working on case and contact management, the Abbotsford News reported. The plant also reportedly is operating at reduced capacity.
According to the Fraser Valley Packers website, the company lists an Everson location along Garrison Road that is involved in sourcing, producing and certifying blueberries; agricultural blueberry research; and packing, processing and distributing blueberries.
State transmission still growing
The latest statewide situation report released by the Washington State Department of Health on Tuesday showed that COVID-19 transmission is continuing to grow.
“We are still at great risk for significant growth as the virus continues to spread in Washington state,” Secretary of Health John Wiesman said in a release announcing the new report. “And, as it moves into more vulnerable age groups, I am very concerned that hospitalizations and deaths will continue to increase.”
Among the showings of the latest report were:
▪ Estimates show the reproductive number for COVID-19 transmission remains above one for both western and eastern Washington, meaning each new case of coronavirus is spread to more than one person. While the estimated reproductive number are lower than a week before, the release said new cases in the state are continuing to grow.
▪ The proportion of COVID-19 tests coming back positive remains high in eastern Washington and is on the rise in western Washington. This again reflects the higher spread of the virus and not just the increase in testing, the release stated.
▪ The recent concentration of new cases in young adults has continued to spread into younger and older age groups. New hospitalizations across most age groups are also increasing, the release stated.
▪ For the first time since March, coronavirus-related deaths appear to be increasing in western Washington, and they continue to rise in eastern Washington.
“Our actions matter: stay home, keep distance and wear a face covering,” Weisman said in the release. “We all need to take this responsibility seriously and limit our activity to protect the health and safety of our communities.”
Phased reopening
Gov. Jay Inslee Tuesday extended the pause indefinitely on counties moving ahead in the Safe Start Washington plan.
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 28, 2020 at 5:57 PM.
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