After last week’s record surge, Whatcom sees 24 new COVID cases Monday, state reports
A day after setting a single-day record for new cases, Whatcom County had 24 more residents test positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health reported on Monday, Nov. 16, but no new deaths were reported over the weekend.
Whatcom County now has seen 1,914 confirmed cases and 52 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15. That means that 2.7% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
The state Department of Health data Sunday shows Whatcom County has had 119 hospitalizations (unchanged from Sunday) and 91,510 tests have been performed (an increase of 917 from what was reported Sunday).
This is the fifth consecutive day with at least 20 new cases reported, including Sunday, when Whatcom saw a record 48 new cases reported.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Bellingham Herald on Monday that it was treating five patients for COVID-19, an increase of one from Sunday.
Western Washington University’s most recent on-campus student COVID testing data shows that, since Sept. 15, WWU has tested 8,236 students, 10 of whom had positive tests.
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was updated Monday for data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday and showed that Whatcom County is missing the marks on three of four key 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 62.6.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 281.6. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 261.7.
▪ 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 82.4% 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.
Whatcom’s record week
The state Department of Health reported 148 new cases in Whatcom County last week — the highest weekly number of new cases the county has seen during the pandemic — as the reported case total grew from 1,694 on Nov. 7 to 1,842 on Saturday, Nov. 14. That’s a 76% increase from the 84 new cases reported the previous week.
It marked only the second time during the pandemic that Whatcom’s weekly new cases made triple digits — the previous high was 113 cases between June 21 and 27.
According to analysis by The Bellingham Herald, the county also had its highest estimated test positivity rate in nearly five months.
State data reported an increase of 4,943 tests last week, meaning 2.99% of those tests came back positive. That’s a substantial increase from the 1.88% estimated positivity rate from the week before.
It also represents the third highest weekly rate when testing data has been reported, behind the high of 5.08% from June 21-27, when only 2,223 tests were reported.
Bike shop employee positive
Trek Bicycle Bellingham announced in a Facebook post Sunday that it has temporarily closed its doors after an employee has tested positive for COVID-19.
The business reported that it is in contact with the Whatcom County Health Department and is following its guidelines and that no additional cases have been reported at this time. Customers who have a bike in the store for business or repair will be contacted.
“We take being an essential business very seriously, along with the health of our employees and our community and are honored to be serve the needs of our customers,” the post read. “We look forward to seeing you again upon re-opening.”
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Monday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 11.1 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and 247,116 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 54.9 million reported cases and 1.3 million deaths.
Monday afternoon Washington state also reported these numbers from the Department of Health:
▪ 131,532 reported cases, an increase of 1,492 from data on Sunday.
▪ 9,518 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 93 from data Sunday.
▪ 2,795,736 total tests, an increase of 17,641 from data Sunday.
▪ 2,548 deaths related to COVID-19, 29 more than were reported Friday, meaning that 1.9% of the state residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
Washington state actions
Gov. Inslee announced new rules Sunday, Nov. 15, that will go into effect statewide this week that will eliminate indoor service at restaurants and bars, close indoor activity at gyms, and limit occupancy at retail stores to 25% in an effort to curb the dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases in Washington state.
The restrictions are scheduled to last four weeks, until Dec. 14.
Inslee issued a travel advisory for Washington state on Friday, recommending Washington state residents self-quarantine for 14 days when they return home after traveling out of the state. The governors of Oregon and California joined Inslee in making similar advisories for their states.
On Tuesday, Oct. 13, Inslee 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 16, 2020 at 6:57 PM.
