Whatcom sees 20 COVID cases Saturday, state reports

Whatcom County had 20 new COVID-19 cases reported by the Washington State Department of Health data Saturday, Nov. 14. The state does not report deaths on the weekend.

Whatcom County now has seen 1,842 confirmed cases and 52 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13. That means that 2.8% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.

The state Department of Health data Saturday shows Whatcom County has had 118 hospitalizations (no change from Friday) and 89,919 tests have been performed (an increase of 627 from what was reported Friday).

St. Joseph hospital, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Bellingham Herald on Saturday that it was treating four patients for COVID-19, down one from Friday.

Western Washington University’s most recent on-campus student COVID testing data shows that, since Sept. 15, WWU has tested 8,216 students, eight of whom had positive tests.

The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard is not updated on the weekend, but it reported Friday for data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday that Whatcom County is making two of four key metrics goals.

▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents every 14 days with a rate of 50.6.

▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 267.6. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 251.6.

▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 2% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 1.7%.

▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by patients with 92.5% reported by the state.

▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 10% of all licensed hospital beds being occupied by COVID-19 patients with 2.0% reported by the state.

Numbers elsewhere

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

▪ The U.S. has more than 10.8 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and 245,453 deaths.

▪ Worldwide, there are more than 53.7 million reported cases and 1.3 million deaths.

Friday the Washington State Department of Health reported 2,147 new cases of COVID-19, according to a department news release, which said it was, at the time, the highest daily case count since the pandemic began.

“Just two weeks ago, we announced 1,000 new cases in a day for the first time since mid-summer. And, each day this week we have reported over 1,000 new cases per day. This rapid escalation is extremely alarming. The fall surge, which is getting worse every day, has erased the notable progress that Washingtonians made this summer,” according to the release.

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

▪ 127,731 reported cases, an increase of 2,233 from data on Friday.

▪ 9,266 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 15 from data Friday.

▪ 2,748,782 total tests, an increase of 26,695 from data Friday.

▪ 2,519 deaths related to COVID-19, 12 more than were reported Thursday, meaning that 2.0% of the state residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died. The state does not update death numbers on the weekend.

Skagit testing moves

Skagit County closed its COVID-19 drive-thru testing site Friday afternoon due to strong winds, and made plans to move the site next week to the Skagit County Fairgrounds.

Testing at the current site at Skagit Valley College will be closed Monday and Tuesday to facilitate the move, and the county has no plans to go back to the college.

The fairgrounds site will open Wednesday. Those seeking testing will enter through the south gate at 501 Taylor St. in Mount Vernon.

It will still be drive thru-testing, though cars will go through one of the buildings so testing will not be affected by wind or other weather conditions.

The fairgrounds site will be open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to 7 p.m.

CARES Act funding for the site runs out at the end of November, and the county is trying to find funding to keep it open. Right now, the county has enough funding to keep the fairgrounds site open through December.

— Skagit Valley Herald via Tribune News Service

Phased reopening

Gov. Inslee on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 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.

Gov. Jay Inslee issued a travel advisory for Washington state on Friday, 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.

“COVID-19 cases have doubled in Washington over the past two weeks,” Inslee said in a release about the advisory. “This puts our state in as dangerous a position today as we were in March. Limiting and reducing travel is one way to reduce further spread of the disease. I am happy to partner with California and Oregon in this effort to help protect lives up and down the West Coast.”

This story was originally published November 14, 2020 at 3:39 PM.