Coronavirus cases continue to rise in Whatcom County

Posted

Over the past week, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Whatcom County grew from 129 on March 31 to 238 on April 7, according to the Whatcom County Health Department. Nineteen in the county have now died from the respiratory illness; 12 of those deaths were reported in the past week. 

As of April 6, there were 8,682 confirmed cases in Washington state and 394 deaths from the virus, according to the state department of health. Washington was an early epicenter in the U.S. coronavirus outbreak, but now about 10 states have more confirmed cases than Washington. As of April 7, there were more than 386,000 cases in the United States and 1.4 million around the planet, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

Recent numbers indicate that new transmissions of the illness may be slowing in Washington, and on April 6 the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) released a new, lower prediction of the total number of COVID-19-related deaths. The new analysis said the state can expect about 632 deaths, down from an earlier UW estimate of 1,400. That outlook depends on maintaining strict social distancing measures through the end of May, IHME’s director told the Seattle Times.

It’s not clear whether new cases are slowing yet in Whatcom County. The county saw its biggest one-day increase in new confirmed cases on April 5, when it reported 47 new cases. The county announced its first confirmed case nearly one month ago, on March 10. 

Seven new cases at Stafholt in Blaine, all employees

Seven more employees at Good Samaritan Society – Stafholt in Blaine tested positive for the new coronavirus, said Shawn Neisteadt, a spokesperson for the South Dakota-based nonprofit. In total there are now 20 cases of the virus associated with the facility.

Stafholt has notified all residents and families and is working with the Washington State Department of Health and following its guidance on isolating residents, Neisteadt said. 

High rate of positive tests

As of April 5, 15.2 percent of tests in Whatcom County had come back positive, according to data from the Washington State Department of Health. That’s almost double the state’s positive test rate of 8.6 percent. 

The Whatcom County Health Department data on April 7 showed that 22.4 percent of tests had come back positive. State and county numbers are different due to differences in how cases are tracked and the time at which numbers are updated. Whatcom County may have had a delay in obtaining negative test results, as it had not posted new negative test results in the previous two days. A spokesperson for Whatcom Unified Command, the multi-government organization responding to the Whatcom outbreak, did not respond to a question about the lack of negative test results by press time. 

On April 2, Whatcom Unified Command spokesperson Claudia Murphy said the county’s high rate of positive tests may be a result of limited testing. 

“While it’s true that anyone can be tested for COVID-19 if their health care provider says they should, the reality right now is that not everyone can be tested because of a shortage of test kits and/or a shortage of PPE,” Murphy said in an email, which she said was reviewed by health department “subject matter experts.” 

Murphy continued: “The percentage of positive tests out of the total number of people tested for Whatcom County is likely skewed because right now we are prioritizing testing for the people who are most at risk for severe illness, and for health care workers, first responders, and other essential workers. We’ve also tested in closed settings, like Shuksan Healthcare Center, where we were concerned about spread and expected to see a lot of positive tests.”

County testing capacity expands with drive-through site

Whatcom County began operating a drive-through COVID-19 testing site for high priority individuals on April 3. The site is a partnership between the Whatcom County Health Department and Northwest Laboratory, a Bellingham lab that began processing tests in late March. 

Testing at the drive-through is only available for high priority populations with a referral from a health care provider. Patients can’t request testing themselves. High priority populations, according to a county health department press release, include those with symptoms who:

• Work in health care or public safety;

• Live or work in an institutional or congregate living setting;

• Are employed in essential services, such as grocery stores, pharmacies or public utilities; or

• Are over 60, pregnant or have underlying health conditions.

The county health department said on April 3 that it expects results from the site to be provided within 24 hours of shipment to the lab. A county spokesperson did not respond to a question about whether that was happening by press time.

The county is still working to increase testing, the press release said. 

Whatcom County limiting information

On April 3, Whatcom Unified Command began releasing some extra information in a daily “situation report” at whatcomcovid.com. It includes information about the age of confirmed cases.

An earlier situation report, obtained by the Bellingham Herald before Whatcom Unified Command began releasing its daily situation report to the public, included information about the number of hospitalized patients. At that time, on March 31, there were 11 confirmed cases among patients at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center and 22 suspected cases, according to the document.

A spokesperson said unified command only releases information about medical facilities if there is a “cluster” or spread within a facility. Skagit County releases a number of people hospitalized from the new coronavirus in its daily update on new confirmed cases.

PeaceHealth St. Joseph communications director Beverly Mayhew said that on April 7 there were five confirmed cases at the hospital and 18 waiting for test results. She said the facility has had one health care worker test positive to date, and that the facility is below capacity in its emergency department, ICU and main nursing units.

Jed Holmes, community outreach facilitator for the county executive, suggested that releasing information about the location of confirmed cases might give people a false sense of security. A reporter for The Northern Light argued that releasing information on confirmed cases in smaller communities like Birch Bay or Point Roberts could cause people to take the virus’ spread more seriously and promote county and state social distancing guidelines.

Holmes said that while that perspective is understandable, the consensus among public health experts is that this new coronavirus could be in every community and given the shortage of testing in the county, releasing location information is more likely to give a false sense of security than a true picture of the virus’ spread. 

“We want people to go in with the assumption that wherever you go, the threat is there,” he said.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here


OUR PUBLICATIONS