Three more Whatcom County residents are being tested for coronavirus
Three more people in Whatcom County are being tested for the new coronavirus, according to updated information on the Whatcom County Health Department website.
That doubles to six the number of people tested in recent days to find out if they’re sick with the respiratory illness.
As of Thursday morning, March 5, no one has tested positive for COVID-19 in Whatcom County.
But in Washington state, the number of people diagnosed with the illness jumped to 70 on Thursday amid a widening outbreak — with the first confirmed case in Grant County in Eastern Washington, according to the Washington State Department of Health.
In Whatcom County, results for all six tests are pending.
Samples were sent to the Washington State Public Health Laboratory in Shoreline for testing.
The test numbers posted by the Whatcom County Health Department focus only on samples sent to the public health lab in Shoreline.
The University of Washington’s lab is ready to handle up to 1,500 tests per day and private testing labs like Quest and LabCorp also are ramping up, according to the Tacoma News Tribune.
So the total number of people being tested in Whatcom County may be or could soon be higher.
COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019, is the name of the disease that first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, before spreading to other countries, including the U.S. It is caused by a virus named SARS-CoV-2.
The disease is spread through contact between people within 6 feet of each other — what’s referred to as close contact — especially through coughing and sneezing that expels respiratory droplets that land in the mouths or noses of people nearby.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it’s possible to catch COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
Symptoms may occur two days to two weeks after exposure. Although 80% of the cases have been mild, the disease is especially dangerous for the elderly and others with weaker immune systems.
So far, more than 97,000 cases have been reported worldwide, with about 3,300 deaths, the vast majority of them in China. In the U.S., at least 215 cases have been reported, including 11 deaths in Washington state out of 70 reported cases.
The breakdown of the Washington state situation is:
▪ King County: 51 cases, including 10 deaths.
▪ Snohomish County: 18 cases, including one death.
▪ Grant County: one case.
Stay informed
▪ https://whatcomcounty.us/ncov
▪ doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/Coronavirus. Call a hotline at 1-800-525-0127 and then press # for questions about what is happening in Washington state, how the virus spreads, and what to do if you have symptoms.
▪ cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html. Email general questions about COVID-19 in Whatcom County to covid@co.whatcom.wa.us.
▪ cob.org/services/safety/emergencies/Pages/covid-19.aspx
This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 1:25 PM.
