Whatcom County sees eight new COVID-19 cases; Lummi drops out of vaccine trial
Eight more Whatcom County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health reported Thursday, Oct. 15, but no new deaths were reported.
The county now has seen 1,489 confirmed cases and 49 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14. That means that 3.3% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
The state Department of Health data also shows Whatcom County has had 104 hospitalizations (an increase of one from Wednesday) and 72,060 tests have been performed (an increase of 760 from Wednesday).
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard updated Thursday, for data as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, showed that Whatcom County is making 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 52.4.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 230.1. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 204.2.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 2% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 1.3%.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by patients with 72.2% 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 1.2% reported by the state.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Thursday that it was treating three patients for COVID-19, up one from Wednesday.
Western Washington University’s most recent on-campus student COVID testing data shows that since Sept. 15, WWU has tested 4,090 students, four of whom had positive tests.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Thursday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 7.9 million reported cases, the most of any nations, and 217,696 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 38.78 million reported cases and 1.09 million deaths.
In Washington state, the most recent numbers from the Department of Health were reported Thursday afternoon:
▪ 96,185 reported cases, an increase of 676 from data on Wednesday.
▪ 7,956 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 73 from data Wednesday.
▪ 2,169,192 total tests, an increase of 22,683 from data Wednesday.
▪ 2,232 deaths related to COVID-19 were reported, an increase of 11 from data Wednesday. That means that 2.3% of the state residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
Lummi withdraws from trial
The Lummi Indian Business County announced Thursday that it withdrew from the AstraZeneca COVID-19 trial.
“We will continue to look for ways to protect our people from this virus,” Lummi Indian Business Council Chairman Lawrence Solomon said in the release. “But after consultation with the Lummi Public Health Department, it was clear that the AstraZeneca vaccine trial was not a good fit.”
The primary reason for the decision, according to the release, were ongoing communications problems between Lummi doctors and AstraZeneca representatives.
The trial is currently on hold while AstraZeneca assesses adverse reactions experienced by some trial volunteers elsewhere.
Lummi announced almost a month ago plans to participate in Phase 3 of the trial.
Phased reopening
Gov. Inslee on Tuesday, Oct. 13, moved all counties in modified Phase 1 to Phase 2, but his July 28 extension of an indefinite pause on counties moving ahead in the Safe Start Washington plan remains in place. That came a week after Inslee loosened some restrictions for activities and businesses.
That means 22 counties — including Whatcom — are in Phase 2 and 17 counties are in Phase 3.
