Whatcom County sees 11 more COVID-19 cases, state reports Wednesday
Eleven more Whatcom County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health on Wednesday, Sept. 16, but no new related deaths were reported.
Whatcom County now has had 1,219 confirmed cases during the pandemic, according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15. The data also shows Whatcom County has had 95 hospitalizations (an increase of one) and completed 55,820 tests in total (an increase of 484).
The state also reported Wednesday that Whatcom County has had 40 total related deaths, meaning 3.3% of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus have died. Whatcom’s last death was reported on Monday, Sept. 14.
The most recent data from the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was reported Wednesday for data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, and shows Whatcom County missing two 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 39.5.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 214.5. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 164.4.
▪ 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 missing the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 81.6% 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 Wednesday that it was treating seven patients.
Lummi reports new case
The Lummi Tribal Health Center announced via a Facebook release Tuesday that a 60th Lummi community member has tested positive for COVID-19.
The most recent community member to test positive is the only known active coronavirus case in the community.
The Lummi Tribal Health Center has performed 1,653 tests during the pandemic, 96.6% of which (1,596) have returned negative results.
Of those that did test positive, 8% were 0-9 years old, 17% were 10-19 years old, 35% were 20-29 years old, 25% were 30-54 years old and 15% were 55 or older. Also, 55% of the positive cases were male.
The Lummi Nation also has extended its Shelter in Place Phase II order through Sept. 25.
The Nooksack Indian Tribe said in Facebook release that also it continues to have one active COVID-19 case — its first during the pandemic. The Nooksack Health Clinic has conducted 911 tests, 905 of which have returned negative — the rest are awaiting results.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Wednesday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 6.62 million reported cases, the most of any nations, and 196,485 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 29.6 million reported cases and 937,543 deaths.
In Washington state, the Department of Health reported Wednesday afternoon:
▪ 80,812 reported cases, an increase of 347 from Tuesday.
▪ 7,162 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 35 from Tuesday.
▪ 1,676,702 tests recorded, an increase of 10,987 from Tuesday.
▪ 2,020 deaths, an increase of five from Tuesday, 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.
