Whatcom County has seven new COVID-19 cases, state says Thursday
Seven more Whatcom residents have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Washington State Department of Health on Thursday, Aug. 13.
Whatcom County now has had 1,007 confirmed cases and 39 deaths during the pandemic, according to the state. The new numbers mean 3.9% of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus in Whatcom have died — according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12.
The state also reported Thursday that Whatcom County has had 81 hospitalizations. The state did not release the number of total tests or the percent positive of those tests because the state is changing the way they count tests, according to a Wednesday news release. Whereas the previous method reflected the total number of unique individuals who have been tested, the new method will count every test completed, the release read.
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard, reported on Thursday for data ending 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, 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 56.8.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of more than 50 individuals tested for each new confirmed case the past week with a number of 33.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 3%.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 83.5% 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 0% reported by the state.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Thursday that it was not treating any patients for the new coronavirus for the fifth day in a row.
Whatcom Unified Command, the multi-governmental agency that’s directing local pandemic response, is requesting more volunteers to help respond to COVID-19, according to a Wednesday news release.
Volunteers are considered emergency workers and must receive a background check, training and personal protection equipment as needed, the release read. Ideally, volunteers should be able to commit several hours a week for several weeks or months, according to the release.
People interested in volunteering can visit WhatcomCOVID.com or the Whatcom Unified Command COVID-19 Facebook page.
U.S. and Washington state
More than 20.7 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 751,910 deaths as of Thursday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has over 5.24 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 166,971 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Thursday afternoon reported 65,339 cases (an increase of 637), 1,736 deaths (an increase of 12) and 6,182 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 45). Approximately 2.7% of all confirmed cases in the state have resulted in death. The state did not release the number of total tests or the percent positive of those tests.
Phased reopening
Gov. 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 people. However, there can be no indoor seating at bars and taverns. Additionally, hair and nail salons and barber shops are allowed to resume business with some restrictions, and retail stores can 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. However, facilities such as pools and arcades are still not allowed. Movie theaters, libraries, museums, nightclubs, live entertainment and any kind of large gathering are also not allowed.
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 13, 2020 at 4:32 PM.
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