Eight more Whatcom residents test positive for COVID-19, Washington state says Sunday

Eight more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Whatcom County, according to the Washington State Department of Health on Sunday, Sept. 13. No new deaths were reported.

Whatcom County now has had 1,200 confirmed cases during the pandemic, according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12. The data also shows Whatcom County has had 92 hospitalizations and completed 54,693 tests in total.

The state also reported Sunday 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 Sunday that it was treating seven patients.

Numbers elsewhere

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

▪ The U.S. has more than 6.51 million reported cases, the most of any nations, and 194,018 deaths.

▪ Worldwide, there are more than 28.85 million reported cases and 921,619 deaths.

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

▪ 79,826 reported cases, an increase of 350 from Saturday.

▪ 7,081 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 33 from Saturday.

▪ 1,644,585 tests recorded, an increase of 13,423 from Saturday.

▪ 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.

This story was originally published September 13, 2020 at 3:16 PM.