Whatcom sees four more COVID-19 cases, while restaurant closes after positive test
Four more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Whatcom County, according to the Washington State Department of Health on Tuesday, Sept. 1. No new deaths were reported.
Whatcom County has now had 1,106 confirmed cases during the pandemic, according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, Aug. 31. The data also shows Whatcom County has had 84 hospitalizations and completed 4,9151 tests in total.
The state also reported Tuesday that Whatcom County has had 39 related deaths, meaning 3.5% of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus have died.
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was also reported Tuesday and shows Whatcom County missing one of four Phase 2 metrics goals. A fifth, recently altered metric, did not have a goal as of Tuesday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents every 14 days with a rate of 28.9.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 185.2. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 187.2.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 0.8%.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 80% 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 25.58 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 852,851 deaths as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 6.06 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 184,450 related deaths.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health Tuesday afternoon reported 74,939 cases (an increase of 304) and 6,787 coronavirus-related hospitalizations (an increase of 24). The state has recorded 1,480,039 total tests.
The latest numbers of statewide deaths are from Tuesday, with 1,931 deaths (an increase of 16), indicating 2.6% of people with confirmed cases have died..
Positive case at restaurant
The downtown Bellingham restaurant Bayou on Bay announced on Facebook that last week an employee was removed from the restaurant after experiencing flu-like symptoms and later tested positive for COVID-19.
The restaurant shut down on Friday, Aug. 28, after receiving a positive test confirmation.
In the Facebook post, Bayou on Bay explained that it is working closely with the Whatcom County Health Department, including instituting its contact tracing protocol.
“Bayou on Bay has been proactive in their response and very receptive to health department requests and recommendations,” Whatcom Unified Command spokesperson Amy Cloud told The Bellingham Herald in an email. “We appreciate their coordination in taking quick action to protect workers and customers.
“They’ve been in close contact with the Health Department’s Business Response Team, and have taken all the appropriate steps to prevent further spread of COVID-19. They set a great example.”
The restaurant post noted that it will remain closed until staff and the community can return safely. That includes a second negative COVID-19 test by every staff member at least five days after exposure and a mandated 14-day quarantine.
“When that is complete, we will proceed only with approval from the health department and when our staff is confirmed healthy by all available metrics,” the post read, adding that the restaurant has been professionally disinfected, with another cleaning happening prior to reopening.
“We apologize for the inconvenience, and we’re grateful for your continued support and joint commitment in keeping Bellingham as safe as possible. We’ll be back,” the post concluded.
Race and ethnicity data
The Whatcom County Health Department announced in a release Tuesday that it is changing the way it will report the breakdown in how different races and ethnicities are being impacted by coronavirus in the county.
“Hispanic” is no longer categorized as an ethnicity, but as a race, the release said, and a multiracial (non-Hispanic) group has been added.
The reason for the change is to better represent individuals who identify with more than one racial identity and to bring the way the county reports data in line with how the Washington State Department of Health reports it related to race and ethnicity, according to the release.
The move also makes sure that people who test positive for COVID-19 are only represented once, rather than more than once if they select more than one race, the release said. Now, people who select multiple racial identities will be represented in the multiracial, non-Hispanic category.
Under the new way of reporting, there are now eight categories, rather than six: white, non-Hispanic; Hispanic; American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic; other race, non-Hispanic; multiracial, non-Hispanic, Asian, non-Hispanic; Black, non-Hispanic; and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic.
Data for races with fewer than 10 cases are suppressed to comply with the state Department of Health’s small numbers guidelines.
Here is what the latest data through Sept. 1 shows:
▪ White, non-Hispanic: 59.7% of cases (represents 78.7% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Hispanic: 28.9% (represents 9.5% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic: 4.7% (represents 2.5% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Other race, non-Hispanic: 2.2% (represents 0.0% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Asian, non-Hispanic: 1.9% (represents 4.3% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Multiracial, non-Hispanic: 1.5% (represents 3.6% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic: Suppressed (represents 0.3% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Black, non-Hispanic: Suppressed (represents 1.0% of Whatcom’s total population.
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 September 1, 2020 at 3:43 PM.
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