Whatcom sees seven new COVID-19 cases Friday, state reports
Seven more Whatcom County resident have tested positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health reported on Friday, Oct. 2. No new deaths were reported.
A death reported Thursday, Oct. 1, was the fourth coronavirus-related death reported in the county the past week, the sixth since Sept. 22 and it brought the county’s total to 46 during the pandemic. As of Friday, 3.3% 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.
Since 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 1,377 confirmed cases during the pandemic, according to state Department of Health data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday. The data also shows Whatcom County has had 100 hospitalizations (an increase of one from Thursday) and 64,013 tests have been performed (an increase of 564 from Thursday).
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was updated Friday, for data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday 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 71.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 223.5. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 170.2.
▪ 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 84.7% 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 Friday that it was treating three patients for COVID-19.
Western Washington University plans to post testing numbers daily. The most recent report is for the week of Sept. 21 and records one positive test from a total of 795 tests. Since Sept. 15, WWU reports a total of three positive cases from 2,264 tests.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Friday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 7.32 million reported cases, the most of any nations, and 208,600 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 34.4 million reported cases and 1.02 million deaths.
In Washington state, the most recent numbers from the Department of Health were reported Friday afternoon:
▪ 88,810 reported cases, an increase of 694 from data on Thursday.
▪ 7,586 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 13 from data Thursday.
▪ 1,905,759 total tests, an increase of 21,685 from data Thursday.
▪ 2,143 deaths related to COVID-19, an increase of 11 deaths from data Thursday, indicating 2.4% of people with confirmed cases have died.
▪ Offering no contact treats by placing them away from your front door in your yard or driveway.
▪ Not substituting a Halloween mask for a face covering and making sure you wear an approved face mask.
▪ Staying away from large costume parties or trick-or-treating events.
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.
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