Whatcom County has five new COVID-19 cases, state says Friday
Five more Whatcom residents have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Washington State Department of Health on Friday, Aug. 14.
Whatcom County now has had 1,012 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. Thursday, Aug. 13.
The state also reported Friday 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 Friday for data ending 11:59 p.m. Thursday, 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 55.5.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of more than 50 individuals tested for each new confirmed case the past week with a number of 32.6.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 3.1%.
▪ 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 Friday that it was not treating any patients for the new coronavirus for the sixth 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 21.03 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 761,983 deaths as of Friday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has over 5.29 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 168,207 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Friday afternoon reported 66,139 cases (an increase of 800), 1,755 deaths (an increase of 19) and 6,206 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 24). 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.
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