Whatcom sees five new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, state reports
Five more Whatcom County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 according to the Washington State Department of Health on Tuesday, Aug. 4. No new deaths were reported.
Whatcom County now has had 941 confirmed cases and 38 deaths during the pandemic, according to the state. The new numbers mean 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, Aug. 3.
The state also reported Tuesday that Whatcom County has had 80 hospitalizations and has conducted 32,702 tests, with 2.9% returning positive results.
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard, reported on Tuesday for data ending 11:59 p.m. Monday shows Whatcom County missing four 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 60.8.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of more than 50 individuals tested for each new confirmed case the past week with a rate of 41.3.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 2.4%.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 83.1% 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 0.4% reported by the state.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Tuesday that it was treating one patient for the new coronavirus.
U.S. and Washington state
More than 18.4 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 698,023 deaths as of Tuesday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has over 4.76 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 156,668 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Tuesday evening reported 59,379 cases (an increase of 664), 1,619 deaths (an increase of 19) and 5,779 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 35). Approximately 2.7% of all confirmed cases in the state have resulted in death, while 5.9% of the 1,009,486 tests administered have come back positive for COVID-19.
Inslee makes changes to gym use
Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee announced some modifications to the rules in fitness centers on Monday evening, Aug. 3.
Details are available on the state’s website, but one key change allows more members to use a facility, based on size. At Life Force Ninja in north Bellingham, for example, the number of participants in open sessions is now 10, up from the limit of five in the previous mandate.
Face coverings will continue to be required inside except when a participant is engaged in strenuous exercise. The guidelines also clarify that outdoor settings are preferable to indoor when it comes to fitness training and team sports.
Phased reopening
Gov. Jay Inslee July 28 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 August 4, 2020 at 6:00 PM.
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