Whatcom sees 5 more COVID-19 cases Monday, but spread slows in most regions of county

Five more Whatcom residents have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Washington State Department of Health on Monday, Aug. 17. No new deaths were reported

Whatcom County now has had 1,029 confirmed cases and 39 deaths during the pandemic, according to the state. The new numbers mean 3.8% 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, Aug. 16.

The state also reported Monday that Whatcom County has had 80 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 Monday for data ending 11:59 p.m. Sunday, shows Whatcom County missing three 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 49.3.

▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of more than 50 individuals tested for each new confirmed case the past week with a number of 1.7.

▪ Whatcom is missing the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 60.3%.

▪ 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 0.4% reported by the state.

St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Monday that it was treating one patient for the new coronavirus.

U.S. and Washington state

More than 21.77 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 776,819 deaths as of Monday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has over 5.42 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 170,317 related deaths.

Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Monday afternoon reported 67,721 cases (an increase of 260), 1,785 deaths (an increase of four) and 6,296 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 41). Approximately 2.6% 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.

Whatcom’s COVID case locations

All but two of Whatcom County’s seven school district regions saw their coronavirus infection rates decrease last week, and the two that didn’t had no change.

The Whatcom County Health Department, which releases data on the location of COVID-19 positive tests by school district, published new data on its website Monday, Aug 17.

The Lynden district has the county’s highest infection rate, while the Mount Baker region is the lowest.

Here is what the latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:

Bellingham: Up 4.9% (19 cases) since Aug. 10 to 403 cases, and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 42 to 37.

Blaine: Saw no new cases since Aug. 10 to hold steady at 58 cases, and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 34 to 23.

Ferndale: Up 2.6% (five cases) since Aug. 10 to 201 cases, and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 87 to 36.

Lynden: Up 6.7% (10 cases) since Aug. 10 to 160 cases, and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days remained steady at 84.

Meridian: Up 3.4% (three cases) since Aug. 10 to 92 cases, and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days remained steady at 46.

Mount Baker: Up 2.0% (one case) since Aug. 10 to 51 cases, and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 51 to 19.

Nooksack Valley: Up 1.7% (one case) since Aug. 10 to 61 cases, and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 108 to 72.

Race and ethnicity

Race and ethnicity data for Whatcom County residents testing positive for COVID-19 also was updated Monday.

Hispanic residents, who can be of any race, represent 30% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county — slightly up from 29% from data released Aug. 10 — though 9% of the county identifies as Hispanic.

According to the health department data, 62% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Whatcom County are white residents — an increase from the 58% reported Aug. 10 — though 82% of the county’s population identifies as white.

Meanwhile, 5% of confirmed cases are for residents who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native — unchanged from Aug. 10 — 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 Aug. 10 — though those races represent 5% of the county’s population.

Black residents account for 1% of the county’s COVID-19 cases — unchanged from Aug. 10 — slightly lower than the 2% of Whatcom’s total population that identifies as Black.

The remaining 10% of the county’s coronavirus cases were listed as “other” in the health department’s data.

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 17, 2020 at 4:04 PM.