Whatcom sees three more COVID-19 cases, state reports Tuesday
Three more Whatcom County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health reported Tuesday, Oct. 6, and the county’s number of deaths related to coronavirus was reduced by one.
The county now has seen 1,406 confirmed cases and 48 deaths, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5. That means that 3.4% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
On Monday, the state reported Whatcom had three new COVID-related deaths over the weekend, but as has occurred frequently during the pandemic, that data was later changed after further investigation.
The county’s reported death total has increased by eight since Sept. 21. Because the Whatcom County Health Department does not release information about individual deaths, it is not known how many of those eight deaths are related to an outbreak at the Highland Health and Rehabilitation skilled nursing facility in Bellingham.
As of Tuesday, Sept. 29, the health department reported the outbreak had spread to 39 people — 23 residents and 16 staff — and that six residents had died. The Bellingham Herald asked Whatcom Unified Command for an update on the number of cases and related deaths linked to the outbreak at the facility and received no response.
Tuesday’s state Department of Health data also shows Whatcom County has had 100 hospitalizations (no change from Monday) and 66,076 tests have been performed (an increase of 437 from Monday).
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was updated Tuesday, for data as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, and showed 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 65.2.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 217.6. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 178.8.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 2.1%.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 78.0% 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 two patients for COVID-19, down one from Monday.
Western Washington University’s most recent on-campus student COVID testing data shows that since Sept. 15, WWU has tested 2,621 students, four of which had positive tests.
Skagit staying in Phase 2
Though case counts are trending down in Whatcom County’s nearest neighboring county, Skagit County Public Health Officer Dr. Leibrand said he supports Skagit staying in Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Safe Start Washington plan.
“Case counts are trending downward in Skagit County, and a few days last week, Skagit was actually briefly meeting all five metrics required to move forward to Phase 3 of the Safe Start — Reopening Washington plan,” Leibrand wrote in a release late Monday. “However, on July 2, Governor Inslee paused all forward progress in the Safe Start plan, and has not reversed that decision.
“I support Governor Inslee’s continued pause on the Safe Start — Reopening Washington plan and encourage Public Health and the Skagit County Board of Health to support the Governor’s continued efforts to slow COVID-19 transmission statewide.”
Part of the reason, according to the release, is Leibrand wants Skagit residents to continue following guidelines for washing hands, wearing facemasks, staying socially distant and keeping gatherings safe and small.
“Lessening the related restrictions now, when we are just barely hovering around the case goal, would be a mistake,” Lebrand wrote.
Leibrand also pointed out that though Skagit County is near the rate of 25 new cases per 100,000 residents every two weeks — Skagit was at 31.0 as of Monday, according to the state’s Phase and Risk Assessment Dashboard — neighbors in Whatcom (64.8) and Snohomish (44.8) are “seeing spikes.”
“Skagit County is not an island, and disease circulation in neighboring communities is concerning, especially when we think about the nearly 25 percent of Skagit residents who report working outside the County, according to the Washington State Employment Security Department,” Leibrand wrote.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Tuesday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 7.49 million reported cases, the most of any nations, and 210,716 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 35.64 million reported cases and 1.04 million deaths.
In Washington state, the most recent numbers from the Department of Health were reported Tuesday afternoon:
▪ 90,663 reported cases, an increase of 387 from data on Monday.
▪ 7,673 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 51 from data Monday.
▪ 1,961,067 total tests, an increase of 9,660 from data Monday.
▪ 2,165 deaths related to COVID-19, an increase of seven deaths from data Monday, indicating 2.4% of people with confirmed cases have died.
UW outbreak
A COVID-19 outbreak in the University of Washington’s Greek community has increased to over 175 cases since last week.
University spokesman Victor Balta said on the school’s website as of Tuesday morning there were 177 confirmed COVID-19 cases in students among 14 fraternities and sororities.
University officials have urged students to isolate if they have tested positive or are experiencing symptoms. Students who had close contact with infected peers have been encouraged to get tested.
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.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
