Whatcom County sees four new COVID-19 cases, state reports Friday; WWU sets winter term
Four more Whatcom County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health reported Friday, Oct. 16, but no new deaths were reported.
The county now has seen 1,493 confirmed cases and 49 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15. 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 (no change from Thursday) and 72,643 tests have been performed (an increase of 583 from Thursday).
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard updated Friday, for data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday, 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 48.8.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 234.2. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 213.5.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 2% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 1.5%.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by patients with 72.5% 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, the same as Thursday.
Western Washington University’s most recent on-campus student COVID testing data shows that since Sept. 15, WWU has tested 4,327 students, four of whom had positive tests.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Friday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 8 million reported cases, the most of any nations, and 218,448 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 39.16 million reported cases and 1.1 million deaths.
In Washington state, the most recent numbers from the Department of Health were reported Friday afternoon:
▪ 96,894 reported cases, an increase of 709 from data on Thursday.
▪ 7,971 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 15 from data Thursday.
▪ 2,194,254 total tests, an increase of 25,062 from data Thursday.
▪ 2,239 deaths related to COVID-19 were reported, an increase of 7 from data Thursday. That means that 2.3% of the state residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
WWU winter quarter
Western Washington University will maintain “approximately the same level of fact-to-face instruction and campus residency levels as Fall Quarter” for its winter quarter, according to a letter sent out Friday by WWU President Savah Randhawa.
“The decisions around winter were made using the same sets of conditions, data, processes and recommendations from both on- and off-campus experts that were used to set instruction, residency and campus operating levels for fall,” Randhawa wrote. “Virus levels locally, in our region, and in our state continue to be our primary guidepost in making these decisions.”
One change for winter quarter is that though classes will start Jan. 5, all courses will remain remote learning until Jan. 11 to accommodate for the COVID test of all students returning to campus residences or face-to-face classes after the holiday break.
As of Friday, WWU’s on-campus student COVID testing data shows that since Sept. 15, WWU has tested 4,327 students, four of whom had positive tests.
Freshman enrollment is down at colleges nationwide, falling 16% compared to last year, according to a report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
While all campuses except four-year, for-profit colleges have seen a dip in registrations, first-year students account for nearly 70% of the total decline in undergraduate enrollment — a drop that has taken researchers by surprise.
“With more data, the downward trends identified in September’s First Look report appear steeper, while also emerging for more states and student groups,” NSCRC’s executive director Doug Shapiro said in a statement. “Most strikingly, freshman students are by far the biggest decline of any group from last year, with a decrease of 16.1% nationally and a 22.7% drop at community colleges in particular.”
Overall, undergraduate enrollment has slipped 4% below what it was last year, and a jump in graduate enrollment seen in early fall has slumped to 2.7% percent, according to the report. Researchers say these uncommon enrollment trends can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered college campuses earlier this year and has forced many to switch to remote learning.
WWU’s total fall enrollment of 15,194 students was down 5.9% from fall 2019, according to a story on Western Today. Enrollment for first-year and transfer students was affected by the pandemic, according to the story, as 278 first-year students were granted deferrals to a future term (up from 103 in fall 2019) and 75 transfers were granted deferral requests (up from 32 in 2019).
Long-term care centers
Approximately 8% of all COVID-19 cases in Washington state during the pandemic (7,695 of 94,775) and 55% of the state’s deaths (1,203 of 2,211) as of Oct. 12 were associated with the state’s nursing homes, assisted living facility and adult family homes, the Department of Health announced in a news release Thursday.
Those numbers include residents as well as employees at the facility, and not all the cases were exposed at the long-term care facilities.
Whatcom County is still battling an outbreak at the Highland Health and Rehabilitation Center, where health department director Erika Lautenbach said Wednesday, Oct. 14, during an online press briefing that 95% of the facility’s 40 residents (38) and nearly one-third of its 60 staff members (18) had contracted the illness. Of those, 10 residents have died since the outbreak began Sept. 18.
“This outbreak has been such a tragic and challenging issue for this community,” Lautenbach said, adding that the facility has been working closely with the health department and its response team as well as other state regulating agencies during the outbreak.
The outbreak at Highland is the second large outbreak at a Bellingham nursing facility during the pandemic. The health department reported an outbreak at Shuksan Healthcare on March 22. That outbreak resulted in 54 coronavirus cases — 31 residents and 23 employees — and 10 resident deaths.
The Good Samaritan Society-Stafholt nursing home in Blaine had 13 cases, including 11 residents in late March, while Lynden Manor had 14 residents test positive and two die.
COVID-19 fraud
The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday issued a reminder to remain vigilant against fraud attempts using the COVID-19 pandemic to exploit consumers and organizations and cheat disaster relief programs.
In particular, a news release Thursday said, be wary of scams through websites, social media, emails, robocalls and other avenues attempting to sell fake coronavirus vaccines, tests, treatments and protective equipment.
“A pandemic is a time when people should come together to pursue the common good, but sadly there are some who instead use it as an opportunity to deceive and thieve,” Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen said in the release. “From the outset, the Justice Department has acted quickly to detect, investigate, and prosecute wrongdoing relating to this crisis. Pursuing these criminals and deterring would-be bad actors will remain a priority for the foreseeable future.”
The Justice Department has received more than 76,000 tips of potential coronavirus-related wrong doing, the release states, while the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center has received another 20,000.
The Department of Justice has filed 33 criminal charges across the country involving scam vaccines, treatments, testing or price gouging of medical supplies, according to the release, and initiated 11 civil cases to stop fraudulent schemes. The department has also charge 65 defendants in 50 cases accused of fraudulently obtaining more than $227 million from the Paycheck Protection Plan.
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.
WWU’s first day of online classes during the winter quarter updated Oct. 19, 2020.
This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 4:28 PM.
