Whatcom sees 1 death and 4 new COVID cases Monday, as 3 areas have big rate increases
One more person has died from COVID-19 in Whatcom County while four more people have tested positive for the virus according to the Washington State Department of Health on Monday, Sept. 14.
Whatcom County now has had 1,204 confirmed cases during the pandemic, according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13. The data also shows Whatcom County has had 92 hospitalizations and completed 54,971 tests in total.
The state also reported Sunday that Whatcom County has had 40 total related deaths, meaning 3.3% of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus have died.
The state last reported a new COVID-related death in Whatcom County on Aug. 25, but removed a death from the county’s total a day later. Whatcom has remained at either 39 or 40 deaths in daily statistics since 38 were reported on Aug. 7.
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was reported Monday for data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13, 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 37.3.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 226.4. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 168.2.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 1.3%.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 60.4% 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 3.9% reported by the state.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Monday that it was treating seven patients.
Whatcom’s COVID case locations
Three of Whatcom County’s seven school district regions saw their infection rates dramatically increase last week.
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 Monday, Sept. 14, with new data through Sept. 12.
The Ferndale district region saw the largest number of new cases since the data was last reported Sept. 8, which the Lynden and Mount Baker district saw their infection rates per 100,000 residents over the past 14 days more than double. The Meridian district saw no new cases.
Here is what the latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:
Bellingham: Up 4.3% (20 cases) since Sept. 8 to 487 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decrease from 41 to 38.
Blaine: Up 1.5% (one cases) since Sept. 8 to 69 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 34 to 11.
Ferndale: Up 10.8% (24 cases) since Sept. 8 to 246 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 51 to 93.
Lynden: Up 6.6% (11 cases) since Sept. 8 to 178 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 25 to 64.
Meridian: Saw no new cases since Sept. 8 to remain at 97 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 28 to nine.
Mount Baker: Up 7.5% (four cases) since Sept. 8 to 57 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 13 to 32.
Nooksack Valley: Up 1.5% (one case) since Sept. 8 to 68 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days remained steady at 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 Monday.
The percentage of cases impacting non-Hispanic white people in Whatcom County dropped by 1.5 percentage points last week, according to the new data.
Here is what the latest data through Sept. 14 shows:
▪ White, non-Hispanic: 57.2% of cases, down from 58.7% on Sept. 8 (represents 78.7% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Hispanic: 29.9% of cases, up from 29.3% on Sept. 8 (represents 9.5% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic: 5.1% of cases, down from 5.2% on Sept. 8 (represents 2.5% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Other race, non-Hispanic: 2.4% of cases, up from 2.1% on Sept. 8 (represents 0.0% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Asian, non-Hispanic: 2.3% of cases, up from 2.2% on Sept. 8 (represents 4.3% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Multiracial, non-Hispanic: 2.1% of cases, up from 1.7% on Sept. 8 (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.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Monday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 6.54 million reported cases, the most of any nations, and 194,367 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 29.13 million reported cases and 925,820 deaths.
In Washington state, the Department of Health reported Monday afternoon:
▪ 80,138 reported cases, an increase of 312 from Sunday.
▪ 7,098 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 17 from Sunday.
▪ 1,653,967 tests recorded, an increase of 9,382 from Sunday.
▪ 2,006 deaths, an increase of 15 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 14, 2020 at 3:32 PM.
