BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Local COVID-19 cases are surging and health officials say it’s time for action.
Thursday’s case numbers reported by the Whatcom County Health Department indicate a significant increase in line with national and state trends, with over 80 cases since Monday.
Department Director Erika Lautenbach says that’s partially due to social gatherings and partially due to people traveling in and out of the county.
Lautenbach advises immediate action — wearing masks when around others and limiting social gatherings, including small ones inside our own homes.
She says it’s vital to slowing the spread of this coronavirus before it overwhelms our community.
The state health department reports 95 new coronavirus positive tests in Whatcom County for the past week, as the new infection trend continues upward in line with other areas of the state.
The County’s two week average of positives per 100,000 population is at just about twice the state’s goal, while the positivity rate continues to better the state goal at 1.3%.
The state’s risk dashboard shows roughly 8% of county hospital beds available for use, with three current COVID-19 patients as of Wednesday.
This as the Department of Labor and Industries says it has fined 20 ag operations statewide for coronavirus violations since March.
About 5% of all inspections to date resulted in citations, with half the violations involving temporary worker housing and many of the others involving failure to meet social distancing requirements.