Whatcom County sees 19 more COVID-19 cases, state reports Saturday

Nineteen more more Whatcom County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health on Saturday, Sept. 19. The state does not report deaths on weekends.

Whatcom County now has had 1,252 confirmed cases during the pandemic, according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18. The data also shows Whatcom County has had 97 hospitalizations (an increase of two) and completed 57,288 tests in total (an increase of 530).

The state 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 Saturday that it was treating three patients.

Numbers elsewhere

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

▪ The U.S. has more than 6.76 million reported cases, the most of any nations, and 199,207 deaths.

▪ Worldwide, there are more than 30.6 million reported cases and 953,989 deaths.

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

▪ 82,199 reported cases, an increase of 597 from Friday.

▪ 7,248 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 33 from Friday.

▪ 1,723,040 tests recorded, an increase of 18,370 from Friday.

▪ 2,037 deaths reported on Friday, indicating 2.5% of people with confirmed cases have died. The state is not reporting deaths on the weekends.

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 19, 2020 at 4:30 PM.