Whatcom sees 13 more COVID-19 cases, as infections rates remain high in 2 areas
Thirteen more Whatcom County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health reported Wednesday, Oct. 7, but no coronavirus-related deaths were reported.
The county now has seen 1,419 confirmed cases and 48 deaths, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6. That means that 3.4% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
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 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 was told in an email response Wednesday that though updated information is available, “we are not sharing it without their (Highland’s) participation and collaboration.”
Tuesday’s state Department of Health data also shows Whatcom County has had 100 hospitalizations (no change from Tuesday) and 66,720 tests have been performed (an increase of 644 from Tuesday).
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was updated Wednesday, for data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, 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 66.1.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 223.3. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 178.6.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 2.0%.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by 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 Wednesday that it was treating three 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 2,898 students, four of which had positive tests.
Whatcom COVID case locations
While the two Whatcom County regions with the highest infection rates didn’t see their rates increase in the last week and a half, they didn’t go down, either. In fact, four regions saw no change in their infection rates, according to data released Wednesday by the Whatcom County Health Department.
The health department releases data on the location of COVID-19 positive tests by school district and, published new data on its website the number of total cases and infection rates for the past two weeks through Oct. 3.
The Meridian region was the only area in the county to see its rate of new cases per 100,000 residents over the past 14 days increase from when data was last reported on Sept. 28, though only slightly, while Bellingham’s and Ferndale’s dropped.
Here is what the latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:
Bellingham: Up 7.0% (39 cases) since Sept. 28 to 593 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 60 to 32.
Blaine: Up 10.0% (eight cases) since Sept. 28 to 88 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days remained at 68.
Ferndale: Up 4.5% (12 cases) since Sept. 28 to 278 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 54 to 42.
Lynden: Up 2.2% (four cases) since Sept. 28 to 190 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days remained at 35.
Meridian: Up 3.0% (three cases) since Sept. 28 to 102 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from nine to 19.
Mount Baker: Saw no new cases since Sept. 28 to stay at 59 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days remained at six.
Nooksack Valley: Up 12.5% (10 cases) since Sept. 28 to 90 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 remained at 108.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Wednesday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 7.53 million reported cases, the most of any nations, and 211,532 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 35.98 million reported cases and 1.05 million deaths.
In Washington state, the most recent numbers from the Department of Health were reported Wednesday afternoon:
▪ 91,208 reported cases, an increase of 545 from data on Tuesday.
▪ 7,703 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 30 from data Tuesday.
▪ 1,978,477 total tests, an increase of 17,410 from data Tuesday.
▪ 2,177 deaths related to COVID-19, an increase of 12 deaths from data Tuesday, indicating 2.4% of people with confirmed cases have died.
Testing site closes
Wednesday marked the final day that low-barrier COVID-19 testing would be offered at Christ Fellowship Church in Everson, as the church is set to begin remodeling work that will eliminate the space used for testing, Whatcom Unified Command and the Whatcom County Health Department announced in a release.
The site was one of seven sites offered around the county, as officials attempted to have one community site within every school district.
Community testing will continue to be available in Bellingham, Blaine, Ferndale, Deming and Lynden, according to the release. Appointments may be scheduled online at TestDirectly.com or by calling 360-778-6075 between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Updates and testing schedules will be are available at whatcomcounty.us/covidtesting.
Phased reopening
Gov. Inslee on Tuesday loosened some restrictions for activities and businesses but his July 28 extension of an indefinite pause on counties moving ahead in the Safe Start Washington plan remains in place.
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.
