Whatcom County sees eight more COVID-19 cases, state reports Friday
Eight more more Whatcom County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health on Friday, Sept. 18, but no new related deaths were reported.
Whatcom County now has had 1,233 confirmed cases during the pandemic, according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17. The data also shows Whatcom County has had 95 hospitalizations (a decrease of one) and completed 56,758 tests in total (an increase of 484).
The state also reported Friday that Whatcom County has had 40 total related deaths, meaning 3.2% 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 Friday for data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, 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 38.2.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 165.7. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 143.6.
▪ 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 missing the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 80.8% 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 Friday that it was treating three patients.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Friday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 6.71 million reported cases, the most of any nations, and 198,407 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 30.3 million reported cases and 948,472 deaths.
In Washington state, the Department of Health reported Friday afternoon:
▪ 81,602 reported cases, an increase of 404 from Thursday.
▪ 7,215 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 19 from Thursday.
▪ 1,704,670 tests recorded, an increase of 13,623 from Thursday.
▪ 2,037 deaths, an increase of six from Thursday, indicating 2.5% of people with confirmed cases have died.
WWU testing
Western Washington University announced in a Facebook post Friday that it is opening Fraser Hall Tuesday, Sept. 22, for students to get their COVID-19 testing before classes start.
The move was made because many students around the state were unable to be tested because test sites were closed because of unhealthy conditions caused by smoke from wildfires in the region.
Students living on-campus are being tested upon arrival, according to the post, and the tests are provided at no cost to students.
The school began taking appoints Friday at mywesternhealth.wwu.edu/. More information is available at westerntoday.wwu.edu.
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 18, 2020 at 3:20 PM.
