Two new COVID-19 deaths reported in Whatcom County. Cases ‘trending in the wrong direction’
Two more Whatcom County residents have died after testing positive for COVID-19 and 23 more cases were reported in the county by the Washington State Department of Health on Tuesday night, Sept. 22.
The state had issues with reporting data on Monday, Sept. 21, and does not report deaths on weekends, so the numbers reflect data from several days.
The state website said the agency anticipates returning to regular reporting of all data on Wednesday, Sept. 23.
Whatcom County now has had 42 deaths and 1,287 confirmed cases during the pandemic, according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Monday. The data also shows Whatcom County has had 97 hospitalizations. Testing numbers were rolled back to Friday, Sept. 18, at 57,789 tests in total.
With the two new deaths reported, 3.3% of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus in Whatcom County have died.
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard reported Tuesday, for data as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, that Whatcom County is 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 48.8.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 176.1. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 152.3.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 2.2%.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 78.4% 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 1.2% reported by the state.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Tuesday that it was treating three patients.
Cases trending in wrong direction
While much of the rest of the state is seeing the number of new COVID-19 cases slowly decrease, Whatcom County’s numbers are “trending the wrong direction,” according to the county health department.
In the nearly two weeks between Sept. 8 and and 19, Whatcom County saw the number of new cases increase by 114, according to a health department release Tuesday. That represents 9.1% of the 1,264 cases the county has seen throughout the pandemic, as of data released Sunday.
The state reported 31 new cases in Whatcom County on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19-20, combined.
“Our cases are trending the wrong direction,” Whatcom County Health Department Director Erika Lautenbach said in the release. “For the sake of our friends, neighbors and co-workers, it is vital that we continue to do all we can to prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”
Whatcom’s numbers are in contrast to a report released earlier this week by the Washington State Department of Health that said that coronavirus activity around the state, overall, is decreasing.
Because Whatcom is going the wrong way, the county health department reminded residents “to continue to practice prevention behaviors as the risk of COVID-19 transmission remains high.”
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Tuesday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 6.88 million reported cases, the most of any nations, and 200,558 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 31.4 million reported cases and 967,197 deaths.
In Washington state, the most recent numbers from the Department of Health were reported Tuesday night:
▪ 83,193 reported cases, an increase of 645, from data on Saturday, the most recent date for which the state had reliable data.
▪ 7,314 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 52 from data Saturday.
▪ 1,740,899 total tests, as of Friday.
▪ 2,070 deaths reported on Tuesday, indicating 2.5% of people with confirmed cases have died.
Skagit discourages trick-or-treating
Skagit County Health Officer Dr. Howard Leibrand is discouraging in-person trick-or-treating in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Skagit County news release.
“Halloween is coming up and unfortunately, COVID-19 is still with us. In light of the continued community spread of COVID-19, I am recommending that no in-person trick or treating take place this year,” Leibrand said in the release. “This is a difficult and disappointing decision, but one that is necessary to keep our community safe.”
The Bellingham Herald has asked the Whatcom County Health Department if it is making similar suggestions.
Instead of trick-or-treating, Skagit County offered these suggestions:
▪ Decorating front yards with Halloween decorations.
▪ Taking a family car ride to see neighborhood decorations.
▪ Hold a scavenger hunt for in your home for immediate family or a small social group.
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 22, 2020 at 3:26 PM.
