Whatcom sees seven new COVID-19 cases, Washington tops 100,000 cases, state says Thursday
Seven more Whatcom County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health reported Thursday, Oct. 22, but no new deaths were reported.
With 651 new cases in the state, Washington has now seen more than 100,000 cases of the respiratory disease during the pandemic.
Whatcom County now has seen 1,544 confirmed cases and 49 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21. That means that 3.2% 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 106 hospitalizations no change from Wednesday) and 75,997 tests have been performed (an increase of 532 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 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 49.3.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 245.6. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 235.4.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 2% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 1.6%.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by patients with 85.1% 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 2.0% reported by the state.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Thursday that it was treating five 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 5,115 students, five 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 8.39 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and 222,925 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 41.5 million reported cases and 1.13 million deaths.
In Washington state, the most recent numbers from the Department of Health were reported Thursday afternoon:
▪ 100,525 reported cases, an increase of 651 from data on Wednesday.
▪ 8,183 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 34 from data Wednesday.
▪ 2,296,275 total tests, an increase of 19,822 from data Wednesday.
▪ 2,289 deaths related to COVID-19, an increase of three from Wednesday — meaning that 2.3% of the state residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
Lummi extends Shelter in Place
The Lummi Nation announced Wednesday afternoon that it has extended its Shelter in Place order through the end of November in a continued effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.
People at high risk of severe illness from coronavirus are urged to stay in their residence as much as possible.
Other Lummi community members are asked to practice good social distancing, limit gatherings of people outside a household to 10 and wear face coverings and travel within Washington state to areas of limited COVID transmission is permitted.
The Lummi health department on Sunday reported two new cases, bringing the total number of cases in the community during the pandemic to 69. As of Sunday, Lummi had conducted 2,019 tests, had three people hospitalized during the pandemic but no deaths, and had six active cases.
Ferry schedule changes
The Whatcom Chief ferry to Lummi Island will resume its traditional weekday schedule on Monday, Oct. 26, according to a Thursday news release from the Whatcom County Public Works department.
It’s run on a reduced schedule since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pre-COVID schedule will resume for daytime hours and a revised schedule, available on the county’s website, for sailings from 3 p.m. until the last 12:10 a.m. sailing from Gooseberry Point.
Also starting Monday, “ferry riders will not be able to punch or mark off with a pen their own punch card. Instead, a crew member will punch the cards through a contactless system similar to how riders currently pay with a credit card. Travelers can roll down their car window enough to hold out a punch card, and a ferry crew member will punch the card,” according to the release.
B.C. school outbreak
British Columbia health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reported a school outbreak at École de l’Anse-au-sable in Kelowna, where three people associated with the school tested positive and 160 more were placed in quarantine, according to a story by The Province Thursday. The quarantine includes all students and staff from kindergarten through third grade.
Though there have been more than 200 coronavirus exposure warnings at B.C. schools, this was the first outbreak, according to the Province.
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.
