Here’s how health officials say COVID-19 is spreading in Whatcom County
Infections caused by the new coronavirus continue to spread in Whatcom County because of those who ignore the recommendations against indoor social gatherings with people who don’t live together, health officials said.
“We are still seeing social gatherings account for about one-third of all exposures since mid-October,” said Amy Cloud, spokeswoman for Whatcom Unified Command, the multi-governmental agency fighting the new coronavirus pandemic.
“Of the cases we’ve reviewed (from Oct. 18 through Dec. 12), a social gathering is the likely place transmission occurred for 32.8% of cases, compared to 33.9% for within-household transmission,” Cloud told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday, Dec. 30, extended tougher Safe Start limits through Jan. 11, including a ban on indoor gatherings of people from more than one household.
And Washington is among the U.S. states where infections were higher but are declining, according to The New York Times, which aggregates data from state and local health agencies.
“Taken together, social gatherings and household transmission make up two-thirds of the spread of COVID-19,” Cloud said, referring to Whatcom County’s transmission..
“There are a huge variety of types of social settings where COVID-19 has spread,” she said. “For example, we’ve had reports of things ranging from family gatherings with out-of-state visitors, to gatherings with sports teams, to indoor parties with friends. The commonalities continue to be gathering indoors for several hours or days with people from outside the household.”
It continues a disturbing trend for health officials fighting the pandemic.
Some 75% of COVID-19 cases from Nov. 27-Dec. 5 were traced to social and family gatherings, including Thanksgiving-related events, Whatcom County Health Department said.
Overall, Whatcom County’s 14-day case trend was declining, The New York Times reported.
There have been 3,388 confirmed cases and 55 related deaths in Whatcom County during the pandemic, according to state DOH data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 29.
