Whatcom County health reports change to coronavirus test tally on Friday
The Whatcom County Health Department has changed its reporting of residents who are being tested for novel coronavirus.
Starting Friday, March 13, it will only report:
▪ The total number of confirmed cases, meaning people who tested positive for COVID-19. Whatcom County has one so far.
▪ The total number of negative results.
▪ the total number of deaths due to COVID-19. There are no known deaths in Whatcom County so far.
The Washington State Department of Health reports cases in the same way.
The Whatcom County Health Department said it will stop reporting the number of test results that are pending because the number is no longer accurate as doctors start sending samples to commercial labs and the UW Medicine Virology as testing expands.
When testing started, all tests were done by the Washington State Public Health lab in Shoreline. That allowed local public health jurisdictions, such as the county health department, to accurately report how many tests were awaiting results.
That’s no longer the case because tests sent to labs other than Shoreline are outside the public health reporting system, Whatcom County Public Health said in a news release.
“The Whatcom County Health Department is not informed of these pending tests, but is informed of positive and negative results,” public health officials announced. “Therefore, we cannot accurately report the total number of pending COVID-19 tests submitted to labs from Whatcom County.”
Whatcom County has 35 negative tests for novel coronavirus and no new confirmed case, as of noon Friday, March 13, according to the Whatcom County Health Department.
COVID-19 in Whatcom County
Whatcom County confirmed its first case of novel coronavirus Tuesday, March 10. The county declared a public health emergency that same day.
On Thursday, March 12, the Lummi Indian Business Council announced that one of its employees, who lives in King County and is not a tribal member, tested positive for COVID-19.
Also on Thursday, the city of Bellingham declared a local emergency.
More than 137,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 5,000 deaths as of Friday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The United States has more than 1,600 confirmed cases, with at least 41 deaths — most of them in Washington state, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So far, COVID-19 has spread to at least 46 states in the U.S. and the District of Columbia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Washington State Department of Health reported 31 deaths and 457 confirmed cases in the state as of Thursday afternoon.
Twenty-seven people have died of COVID-19 in King County, three in Snohomish County, and one in Grant County. So far, confirmed cases have been found in Clark, Grant, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston and Whatcom counties. The list also includes cases that are unassigned to counties.
About coronavirus
COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019, is the name of the illness 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 six 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 CDC 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 — cough, fever, difficulty breathing — may occur two days to two weeks after exposure. Although most of the cases have been mild, the disease is especially dangerous for the elderly and others with weaker immune systems.
Stay informed
▪ https://whatcomcounty.us/ncov. Email general questions about COVID-19 in Whatcom County to covid@co.whatcom.wa.us.
▪ doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/Coronavirus. Call a hotline at 1-800-525-0127 for questions about what is happening in Washington state, how the virus spreads, and what to do if you have symptoms. Phone lines are staffed 6 a.m. to 10 p.m, seven days a week.
▪ cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
▪ cob.org/services/safety/emergencies/Pages/covid-19.aspx
▪ https://www.lummi-nsn.gov/Website.php?PageID=215
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 12:23 PM.
