Third Whatcom resident tests positive for coronavirus, Health Department says Sunday
A third person from Whatcom County has tested positive for COVID-19, the new coronavirus, according to a press release Sunday, March 15, from the Whatcom County Health Department.
The case is a woman in her 20s and the Health Department is currently working to identify and advise people who have had close contact with her.
On Friday, March 13, a woman in her 40s tested positive for COVID-19 after self-isolating after being notified that she was in close contact with a lab-confirmed positive case from another county, according to a Health Department press release.
Whatcom County’s first confirmed case of COVID-19 was announced on Tuesday afternoon, March 10, after a woman in her 60s received medical care at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center. Her condition improved and she was discharged.
Since that time she has been self-isolated at home. She has no known international travel history, the Health Department said.
The Health Department is also assisting in tracking two confirmed cases from other counties with people who work in Whatcom County: a Lummi Indian Business Council employee and a Western Washington University contract construction worker.
Whatcom County has had 111 negative tests returned in the Washington Disease Reporting System as of Sunday morning, according to the Health Department’s website.
More than 162,500 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 6,065 deaths as of Sunday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 3,244 confirmed cases, with at least 60 deaths.
The Washington State Department of Health reported 42 deaths and 769 confirmed cases in the state as of Sunday afternoon.
At least 37 people have died of COVID-19 in King County, four in Snohomish County, and one in Grant County. So far, confirmed cases have been found in 17 counties — Clark, Columbia, Grant, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Lincoln, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish, Spokane, Thurston, Whatcom and Yakima. 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 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.
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 15, 2020 at 12:20 PM.
