Whatcom sees one death related to COVID-19, 15 new cases Thursday; discourages Halloween
One more Whatcom County resident has died after testing positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health reported on Thursday Oct. 1, and 15 more people have tested positive.
The death reported Thursday was the fourth coronavirus-related death reported in the county the past three days, the sixth since Sept. 22 and it brings the county’s total to 46 during the pandemic. With the new deaths, 3.4% of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 in Whatcom County have died.
On Tuesday, Sept. 29, the Whatcom County Health Department reported that six residents at Bellingham’s Highland Health and Rehabilitation center had died after testing positive in an outbreak that has infected 23 residents and 16 staff members at the skilled nursing facility.
Because the health department does not release information about individual deaths, it is not known how many of the six deaths reported since Sept. 22 are linked to the Highland Health outbreak.
Whatcom County now has had 1,370 confirmed cases during the pandemic, according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30. The data also shows Whatcom County has had 99 hospitalizations (an increase of two from Wednesday) and 63,449 tests have been performed (an increase of 524 from Wednesday).
The Lummi Public Health Department announced Wednesday night that a 64th community member has tested positive for COVID-19. Of those 64, only four cases remain active, and none of the community members who have tested positive have died. The Lummi health center has conducted 1,827 tests.
The Nooksack Indian Tribe reports that its health clinic has conducted 1,044 tests during the pandemic, of which, only one has returned a positive result.
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was updated Thursday, for data as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday and showed 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 64.8.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 203.2. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 162.2.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 2.6%.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 88.2% 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 0.8% reported by the state.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Thursday that it was treating two patients for COVID-19.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Thursday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 7.27 million reported cases, the most of any nations, and 207,651 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 34.1 million reported cases and 1.01 million deaths.
In Washington state, the most recent numbers from the Department of Health were reported Thursday afternoon:
▪ 88,116 reported cases, an increase of 594 from data on Wednesday.
▪ 7,573 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 40 from data Wednesday.
▪ 1,884,074 total tests, an increase of 15,985 from data Wednesday.
▪ 2,132 deaths related to COVID-19, an increase of six deaths from data Wednesday, indicating 2.4% of people with confirmed cases have died.
Antigen test results
The Washington State Department of Health announced Wednesday that it will start reporting antigen test results on a weekly basis.
Antigen tests provide results much faster than the longer wait times associated with molecular test results, according to a release, but in general are less accurate than molecular tests and haven’t been widely studied for people who aren’t showing symptoms.
Because of that, the antigen results will only be released on the state level and will be kept separate from the test results released by the state on a daily basis, according to the release.
“Before we implement a wider application of this tool, we want to make sure we understand how to interpret the results, how to explain these interpretations, and how to use these tests to benefit the public,” Dr. Charissa Fotinos, statewide testing leader for COVID-19 response, said in the release.
Some antigen testing is already happening across the state, the release stated, and it’s expected to increase in the coming month with more than 2.3 million Abbott BinaxNow tests on the way from the federal government.
A second release Wednesday said the first batch of 149,000 tests is expected to be received and distributed in five to 10 days. The test works best for and are approved for people who have symptoms, and the first batch will be distributed to community health centers, tribal clinics and critical access hospitals, according to the release.
“The goal in publicly reporting antigen test results is to increase transparency not just into our process, but into COVID-19 activity statewide. People across the state need a line of sight into these results as these tests become more popular and accessible, so we can understand emerging trends,” Deputy Secretary of Health for COVID-19 Lacy Fehrenbach said in the release.
Trick-or-treating discouraged
The Whatcom County Health Department on Thursday issued a statement discouraging door-to-door trick-or-treating on Halloween, because “it creates a situation where you will come into close contact with many people.”
Instead, if you do hand out treats, the health department suggests:
▪ Offering no contact treats by placing them away from your front door in your yard or driveway.
▪ Washing your hands well before preparing bags of treats.
If you or your children go trick-or-treating, the health department suggests:
▪ Not substituting a Halloween mask for a face covering and making sure you wear an approved face mask.
▪ Maintaining six feet of distance from other trick-or-treaters and those handing out candy.
▪ Staying away from large costume parties or trick-or-treating events.
▪ Bringing plenty of hand sanitizer.
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.
