Whatcom County sees nine more COVID-19 cases Saturday

Nine more Whatcom County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health reported on Saturday, Sept. 26. The state does not report deaths on the weekend.

Whatcom County now has had 1,327 confirmed cases during the pandemic, according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25. The data also shows Whatcom County has had 97 hospitalizations (an increase of one) and 60,822 tests have been performed (an increase of 372 from Friday).

The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard is not updated on the weekend. It most recently reported Friday evening, for data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday, that Whatcom County is missing three 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 46.6.

▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 197.1. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 167.2.

▪ 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 missing the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 87.8% 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 1.2% reported by the state.

St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Saturday that it was treating two patients for COVID-19.

Numbers elsewhere

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

▪ The U.S. has more than 7.07 million reported cases, the most of any nations, and 204,461 deaths.

▪ Worldwide, there are more than 32.6 million reported cases and 991,273 deaths.

In Washington state, the most recent numbers from the Department of Health were reported Saturday afternoon:

▪ 85,830 reported cases, an increase of 604 from data on Friday.

▪ 7,431 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 19 from data Friday.

▪ 1,820,623 total tests, an increase of 19,602 from data Friday.

▪ 2,100 deaths from data Thursday, Sept. 24, 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.