Whatcom County sees 14 new COVID-19 cases Saturday, Washington reports

Fourteen more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Whatcom County, according to the Washington State Department of Health on Saturday, Sept. 12. No new deaths were reported.

Whatcom County now has had 1,192 confirmed cases during the pandemic, according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11. The data also shows Whatcom County has had 92 hospitalizations and completed 54,151 tests in total.

The state also reported Saturday that Whatcom County has had 39 total related deaths, meaning 3.3% of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus have died.

The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was reported Friday for data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, 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 36.4.

▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 209.6. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 173.5.

▪ Whatcom is making the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 1.5%.

▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 63.9% 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 2.7% reported by the state.

St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Saturday that it was treating eight patients for the first time since July 24.

Numbers elsewhere

COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Saturday afternoon:

▪ The U.S. has more than 6.47 million reported cases, the most of any nations, and 193,518 deaths.

▪ Worldwide, there are more than 28.58 million reported cases and 917,221 deaths.

In Washington state, the Department of Health reported Saturday afternoon:

▪ 79,476 reported cases, an increase of 465 from Friday.

▪ 7,048 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 30 from Friday.

▪ 1,631,162 tests recorded, an increase of 16,414 from Friday.

▪ 1,991 deaths, an increase of 6 from Thursday, indicating 2.5% of people with confirmed cases have died.

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.