Whatcom sees one more death and 14 new COVID cases Monday, state reports
One more Whatcom County resident has died after testing positive for COVID-19 and 14 more people have tested positive for the respiratory disease, the Washington State Department of Health reported Monday, Nov. 2.
Whatcom County now has seen 1,629 confirmed cases and 51 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1. That means that 3.1% 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 109 hospitalizations (no change from Sunday) and 81,193 tests have been performed (an increase of 14 from what was reported Sunday).
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard reported Monday for data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, 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 47.0.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 260.5. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 224.7.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 2% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 1.4%.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by patients with 75.3% 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 Monday that it was treating three patients for COVID-19, no change from Sunday.
The Lummi Tribal Health Center reported Sunday on Facebook that a 79th community member has tested positive for coronavirus. It was the 12th confirmed case within the Lummi community since Oct. 18. As of Friday, Oct. 30, the Lummi health department said it had conducted 2,231 tests, had nine active cases including three hospitalizations, but none of the 79 cases in the Lummi community had resulted in death.
Western Washington University’s most recent on-campus student COVID testing data shows that, since Sept. 15, WWU has tested 6,350 students, six of whom had positive tests. It is the first new case at WWU since Oct. 20.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Monday evening:
▪ The U.S. has more than 9.28 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and 231,486 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 46.8 million reported cases and 1.2 million deaths.
In Washington state, the most recent numbers from the Department of Health were reported Monday evening:
▪ 109,354 reported cases, an increase of 1,039 from data on Sunday.
▪ 8,634 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 23 from data Sunday.
▪ 2,470,185 total tests, an increase of 1,039 from data Sunday.
▪ 2,378 deaths related to COVID-19, 12 more than were reported Friday, meaning that 2.2% of the state residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
Whatcom libraries open
The Whatcom County Library System announced Monday that its buildings in Blaine, Everson, Ferndale, Kendall, Lummi Island, Lynden, Point Roberts, Sudden Valley and Sumas are open to the public with modified services and limited hours. Entry requirement for in-person visits to the libraries, which have been closed since March 16 due to the coronavirus pandemic, are in accordance with Washington’s Safe Start plan, according to a release Monday, including:
▪ Requiring everyone over 2 to wear a face-covering at all times.
▪ Limiting hours initially to 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Appointments can be scheduled by calling local library branches or visiting wcls.org/info.
▪ Requesting visits be kept short due to occupancy being limited to 25% capacity.
▪ Asking library visitors to maintain 6 feet social distance and people who have been exposed to a COVID-19 case or are not feeling well to remain home.
The Bellingham Public Library has consolidated staff at its three branches and is offering a curbside pick-up program Monday through Saturday, according to the release.
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.
This story was originally published November 2, 2020 at 5:44 PM.
