Whatcom sees five more COVID-19 cases, state says Wednesday
Five more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Whatcom County, according to the Washington State Department of Health on Wednesday, Aug. 26. No new deaths were reported.
Whatcom County has now had 1,062 confirmed cases and 39 deaths, down one from the previous day, during the pandemic, according to the state. The new numbers mean 3.7% of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus in Whatcom have died — according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25. The state also reported Wednesday that Whatcom County has had 82 hospitalizations, one less from Tuesday, and completed 46,219 tests in total.
The state health department’s death data report includes different categories of deaths related to COVID-19 in an effort to collect, maintain and publish more meaningful data. That dropped the number of dead attributed to Whatcom County from 40 on Tuesday to 39 on Wednesday. Similar adjustments can be expected routinely, the state said.
The state stopped providing the number of unique individuals tested or the percent positive of those tests Aug. 12. It now counts every test completed. With this change, the percent positive is likely to decrease relative to recent trends, according to a state news release Tuesday.
The state also added a daily testing rate metric on the risk assessment dashboard to understand per capita testing levels, according to the news release. The additional metric replaced a metric accounting for the number of individuals tested for each new case, the release read, and the state is not providing a target for this metric at this time.
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard, reported on Wednesday, Aug. 26, shows Whatcom County missing two of four Phase 2 metrics goals. A fifth, recently altered metric, did not have a goal as of Wednesday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents every 14 days with a rate of 42.6.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 195.9. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 179.7.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 1.4%.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 97.3% 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 Wednesday that it was treating one patient for the new coronavirus.
U.S. and Washington state
More than 24.02 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 822,167 deaths as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has over 5.81 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 179,565 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Wednesday afternoon reported 72,161 cases (an increase of 456), 1,880 deaths (an increase of four) and 6,640 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 45). Approximately 2.6% of all confirmed cases in the state have resulted in death and the state has recorded 1,391,309 total tests. However, the state did not share the percent positive of those tests.
COVID-19 among young adults
People ages 20 to 39 represent 39% of confirmed COVID-19 in Washington state, according to a Wednesday news release from the Washington State Department of Health.
State data revealed young adults make up a plurality of confirmed COVID-19 cases at 39% followed by 40- to 59-year-olds at 23%, 60- to 79-year-olds at 14%, 0 to 19-year-olds at 13% and people 80 years old or more at 5%.
Additionally, a new study found young people who have reported ever using an e-cigarette are five times more likely to contract COVID-19, according to the release. At the same time, there has been an increase in vaping among teens and young adults with nearly 30% of high school seniors reporting they have vaped, the release read.
“During the pandemic, people need to do everything possible to keep their lungs healthy,” said State Health Officer Kathy Lofy. “This means quitting e-cigarettes and tobacco. It is so important for people to take advantage of the free tools available to help them break the grip e-cigarettes and tobacco have on them.”
Young adults interested in quitting can enroll in This is Quitting, a cessation program targeted at teens, by texting VAPEFREEWA to 88709, according to the release. Anyone over 13 years old can also call 800-QUIT-NOW to confidentially speak with a quitting coach in English or Spanish, or receive additional resources in other languages, the release read.
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 26, 2020 at 5:09 PM.
.jpeg)