Whatcom sees six new COVID cases Wednesday, as only one region sees infection rate drop
Six more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Whatcom County, according to the Washington State Department of Health on Wednesday, Sept. 9. No new deaths were reported.
Whatcom County now has had 1,151 confirmed cases during the pandemic, according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8. The data also shows Whatcom County has had 86 hospitalizations and completed 52,572 tests in total.
The state also reported Wednesday that Whatcom County has had 39 total related deaths, meaning 3.4% of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus have died.
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was also reported Wednesday and shows Whatcom County missing one of four 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 31.1.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 200.4. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 177.
▪ 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 making the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 66.3% 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 2.4% reported by the state.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Wednesday that it was treating seven patients for the new coronavirus for the first time since July 26.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Wednesday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 6.35 million reported cases, the most of any nations, and 190,589 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 27.69 million reported cases and 900,079 deaths.
In Washington state, the Department of Health reported Wednesday afternoon:
▪ 78,009 reported cases, an increase of 464 from Monday (no numbers were reported Tuesday, Sept. 8, due to a state power outage).
▪ 6,966 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 53 from Monday.
▪ 1,583,903 tests recorded, an increase of 10,899 from Monday.
▪ 1,978 deaths, an increase of 25 from Monday, indicating 2.5% of people with confirmed cases have died.
Whatcom’s COVID case locations
Four of Whatcom County’s seven school district regions saw their infection rates increase last week, while only one decreased.
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 late Tuesday, Sept. 8. The new data is through Sept. 5.
Bellingham, Ferndale, Mount Baker and Nooksack Valley saw their rates of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increase. Blaine was the only region to see its rate decrease.
Here is what the latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:
Bellingham: Up 6.6% (29 cases) since Aug. 31 to 467 cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 30 to 41.
Blaine: Up 3.0% (two cases) since Aug. 31 to 68 cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 40 to 34.
Ferndale: Up 4.7% (10 cases) since Aug. 31 to 222 cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 24 to 51.
Lynden: Up 1.2% (two cases) since Aug. 31 to 167 cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days remained steady at 25.
Meridian: Up 1.0% (one case) since Aug. 31 to 97 cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days remained steady at 28.
Mount Baker: Up 1.9% (one case) since Aug. 31 to 53 cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from six to 13.
Nooksack Valley: Up 8.1% (five cases) since Aug. 31 to 67 cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from nine to 54.
Race and ethnicity data
The percentage of Whatcom County COVID-19 cases impacting people identifying as races and ethnicities other than white continued to grow last week, according to the latest data released by the Whatcom County Health Department late Tuesday.
The Whatcom County Health Department announced last week 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.
Under the new way of reporting, there are now eight categories, rather than six, in an effort 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.
Races or ethnicities with fewer than 10 cases have been suppressed to comply with Washington State Department of Health guidelines.
Here is what the latest data through Sept. 8 shows:
▪ White, non-Hispanic: 58.7% of cases, down from 59.7% on Sept. 1 (represents 78.7% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Hispanic: 29.3% of cases, up from 28.9% on Sept. 1 (represents 9.5% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic: 5.2% of cases, up from 4.7% on Sept. 1 (represents 2.5% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Asian, non-Hispanic: 2.2% of cases, up from 1.9% on Sept. 1 (represents 4.3% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Other race, non-Hispanic: 2.1% of cases, down from 2.2% on Sept. 1 (represents 0.0% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Multiracial, non-Hispanic: 1.7% of cases, up from 1.5% on Sept. 1 (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.
Approximately 16% of all cases do not have a known race or ethnicity.
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.
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