Base Camp reports three more COVID-19 cases at its Bellingham shelter for the homeless
Three more people connected with Base Camp, which offers shelter and services to the homeless, have tested positive for COVID-19, according to operator Lighthouse Mission Ministries.
That brings to four the number of confirmed cases associated with Base Camp, 1530 Cornwall Ave. in Bellingham, according to the ministry.
On Saturday, Nov. 28, Lighthouse Mission was notified of its first known positive case for a homeless person at Base Camp or its predecessor since the start of the pandemic.
That was in a homeless man who stayed at the shelter and told Base Camp staff that he had been staying at the City Hall tent encampment on Lottie Street until he decided to come back to Base Camp on Nov. 26, according to Hans Erchinger-Davis, executive director for the ministry.
He developed symptoms overnight, which Base Camp staff noticed the morning of Nov. 27.
A COVID-19 test was recommended for the guest, who then left Base Camp, according to Erchinger-Davis, who said PeaceHealth contacted the shelter about the man’s positive test.
The man in the first case has since been placed in quarantine. People who were close contacts of the man at Base Camp have been taken to a former Bellingham motel on Byron Avenue that is serving as a COVID-19 isolation and quarantine center.
One of the new cases was a homeless person who stayed at Base Camp, which serves men and women, and left before the positive test result was known. The other new positive case was an employee who was asymptomatic. That employee is in isolation, according to a news release from the ministry.
Erchinger-Davis said on Monday afternoon that he didn’t know if the third new case was someone who stayed at the shelter or if it was a staff member.
Base Camp had 101 people staying at the shelter tested on Sunday, Dec. 6. They will be tested twice a week until the virus is contained, Erchinger-Davis said.
“We are working closely with the Whatcom County Health Department to ensure that our guests and the front line staff caring for them are safe,” Erchinger-Davis said in a statement. “Our protocols include screening for symptoms and encouraging hand washing, mask wearing and social distancing.”
On Friday, Dec. 4, the Whatcom County Health Department announced that two more people connected to the tent encampment at City Hall had tested positive for the illness. Both had been taken to the Byron Avenue facility.
The numbers for both locations were updated on Monday.
Between the two sites — Base Camp and the City Hall encampment, also known as Camp 210 — the number of people who tested positive now totals six, according to test results reported through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, according to Jennifer Moon, spokesperson for Whatcom Unified Command.
“Some of the people spent time at both sites, but four people are associated with Base Camp and two with Camp 210,” said Jennifer Moon, spokesperson for Whatcom Unified Command.
She said that results from tests conducted on Sunday at both sites were expected to be reported at some point on Monday.
“At this time, we plan to continue to offer on-site testing and are confirming details of our testing plan,” Moon said to The Bellingham Herald.
This story was originally published December 7, 2020 at 10:54 AM.
