Whatcom County surpasses 2,000 COVID-19 cases with 19 more on Friday, state reports
Whatcom County surpassed 2,000 COVID-19 cases during the pandemic, as 19 more residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health reported on Friday, Nov. 20. No new deaths were reported.
Whatcom County now has seen 2,002 confirmed cases and 52 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. That means that 2.6% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
Whatcom County reached 1,000 cases on Aug. 12 — 156 days after the county’s first confirmed case was reported on March 10. It took only 100 days for Whatcom to amass a second 1,000-plus cases.
With 392 new cases reported in November, the county already has seen more positive tests this month than in any other month during the pandemic — the previous high being 272 in July.
The county has averaged 25.7 cases per day over the past seven days and 20.6 the past 14 — the first time the county has averaged more than 20 per day over a two-week stretch.
The state Department of Health data Friday also shows Whatcom County has had 123 hospitalizations (an increase of one from Thursday) and 94,073 tests have been performed (an increase of 552 from what was reported Thursday).
The Lummi Public Health Department on Friday reported that it had two more COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number in the Lummi community to 96. The Lummi community now has 18 cases so far in November and 32 since Oct. 1. Because of those increases, the Lummi Indian Business Council earlier this week moved the community back into Phase 1 of its Shelter in Place order, encouraging those at-risk or who are sick to stay home, prohibiting indoor gatherings and limiting outdoor gatherings and limiting travel for community members.
“Thank you to all those who are following the safety protocols,” a Lummi Communication Facebook post read. “We Must Continue to Shelter In Place and Follow all Safety Protocols.
“Reminder: If someone or multiple people are not following all safety protocols please do not follow. Continue following all safety protocols and remind them to wear their mask, social distance, no handshakes or hugging, and be safe. Lummi Nation we must continue to follow all safety protocols. We must continue to protect our community and our families.”
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Bellingham Herald on Friday that it was treating eight patients for COVID-19, a decrease of two from Thursday.
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was updated Friday for data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday 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 84.3.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 305.6. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 281.5.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 2.4%.
▪ 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 3.1% reported by the state.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Friday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 11.8 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and 254,271 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 57.3 million reported cases and 1.36 million deaths.
Friday afternoon Washington state also reported these numbers from the Department of Health:
▪ 139,543 reported cases, an increase of 2,132 from data on Thursday.
▪ 9,717 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 64 from data Thursday.
▪ 2,877,894 total tests, an increase of 21,420 from data Thursday.
▪ 2,619 deaths related to COVID-19, 16 more than were reported Thursday, meaning that 1.9% of the state residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
Vaccine in Whatcom update
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham has been identified as one of only a handful of sites in Washington state that would be able to store vaccines that require ultra-cold storage, PeaceHealth Northwest Chief Executive Charles Prosper told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna have recently announced promising early results from their COVID-19 vaccine candidates. Both vaccines still need to be authorized by the Food and Drug Administration.
According to a NPR story on the vaccines earlier this week, the Pfizer vaccine needs to be kept extremely cold — minus 70 degrees Celsius, which is colder than winter in interior Antarctica. The Moderna vaccine also needs to be kept cold, but only minus 20 degrees Celsius, which is more like a freezer.
On Thursday, the Washington State Department of Health reported that it has received 375 applications from providers seeking to administer the vaccine when it is ready and that it had approved six of them as of Monday, Nov. 16.
PeaceHealth is planning to distribute the vaccine according to state and federal guidelines in all its Washington state hospitals, Prosper reported to The Herald, and it is planning to submit its site application to the Department of Health early next week.
Bellingham company fined
Summit Trampoline Park in Bellingham was one of three trampoline companies in the state to be fined by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries in September and October for violating Gov. Jay Inslee’s Safe Start proclamations issued in July, according to a release.
The order prohibited most recreation and entertainment facilities, which trampoline parks were considered, from operating during Phase 2 of the Safe Start Plan, the release stated.
In addition, Summit Trampoline Park, parks in Marysville and Spokane were cited and fined $9,639 for actively violating the governor’s order. All three parks have appealed, the release stated.
The release said 20 businesses in the state also have been cited for mask violations since July, including Skagit Arms in Burlington, which was fined $3,600 for not requiring employees or customers to wear masks and for violating social distancing rules.
“This is about the safety of workers and protecting our communities,” Labor and Industry Assistant Director Division of Safety and Health Anne Soiza said in the release. ”We know how very hard this is for everyone, but it’s going to take all of us working together to drive the number of new cases down.”
#MaskUp campaign
PeaceHealth, which runs St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, has joined 100 of the top health care systems in the nation in a plea for all Americans to mask up, according to a news release Friday, “because wearing a facemask is our best chance at slowing the surging COVID-19 pandemic now.”
Citing the fact that more than 11.8 million Americans have tested positive for COVID-19, PeaceHealth will be part of a public service effort that will include digital platforms, social media, online information, links to vital health resources and more.
“The current trends are daunting and frightening,” the PeaceHealth release read. “If the nation stays on its current course, hospital leaders are increasingly concerned that more healthcare facilities will be overwhelmed as shortages of healthy caregivers make it difficult to handle a rapidly increasing number of patients. Unfortunately, this is already happening in parts of our country.
“The next several months will be critical. Though there has been positive news about vaccine development, no one knows when those vaccines will be ready for widespread use. In the meantime, everyone must remain vigilant, take precautions and follow public health orders.”
PeaceHealth and other health systems hope to relay that importance to the public, the release states, utilizing the following message:
“As the top nationally-ranked hospitals, we know it’s tough that we all need to do our part and keep wearing masks. But, here’s what we also know: The science has not changed. Masks slow the spread of COVID-19. So, please join us as we all embrace this simple ask: Wear. Care. Share with #MaskUp. Together, wearing is caring. And together, we are saving lives.”
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has pointed to recent studies that show face coverings help limit the transmission of COVID-19, the release states.
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, Nov. 13, 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 20, 2020 at 3:50 PM.
