Whatcom County opens July with 15 new COVID cases and a related hospitalization

On the first day of July, Whatcom County saw 15 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and one related hospitalization added to its totals on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Thursday, but no related deaths were reported.

Overall, Whatcom County has seen 9,498 confirmed cases, 476 hospitalizations and 103 related deaths during the pandemic, according to the dashboard. An additional 425 probable cases — unchanged from the last report — have been reported in Whatcom County during the pandemic, resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.

Whatcom’s infection rate was unchanged at 75.9 — its lowest mark since it had a rate of 71.0 on Nov. 19 — based on the state’s most recent complete epidemiological data between June 10 and 23, according to the state’s Risk Assessment dashboard.