Whatcom sees 19 COVID-19 cases Saturday, state reports

Whatcom County saw 19 more residents test positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health reported on Saturday, Nov. 28. The state does not report deaths on the weekend.

Whatcom County now has seen 2,343 confirmed cases and 53 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Friday, Nov. 27. That means that 2.3% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.

The state Department of Health data Saturday also shows Whatcom County has had 139 hospitalizations (an increase of two from Friday).

The Department of Health did not release test numbers Saturday. It has paused reporting test numbers until Monday, Nov. 30, to clear a backlog of tests.

St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Bellingham Herald on Saturday that it was treating 17 patients for COVID-19, a decrease of four from Friday but just one less than the record 18 reported on Monday, Nov. 23.

Western Washington University’s most recent on-campus student COVID testing data shows that, since Sept. 15, WWU has tested 11,536 students, 28 of whom had positive tests. The number of positive tests stood at only five as recently as the first of the month.

Numbers elsewhere

COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Saturday afternoon:

▪ The U.S. has more than 13.23 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and 266,009 deaths.

▪ Worldwide, there are more than 62.08 million reported cases and 1.44 million deaths.

Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Saturday:

▪ 160,634 reported cases, an increase of 2,467 from data on Friday.

▪ 10,663 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 167 from data Friday.

▪ 2,703 deaths related to COVID-19 on Friday, a decrease of one from data reported Thursday, meaning that 1.7% of the state residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died. The state does not report deaths on weekends.

Washington state actions

Gov. Inslee announced new rules Sunday, Nov. 15, that 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.