In the past week, Whatcom County has seen an alarming and sharp increase in COVID-19 cases. In the first 10 days of January, there were as many positive cases as there were for the entire month of December, which itself was a record-high month for the county.

Whatcom County Health Department’s analysis of cases from the week after the Christmas holiday shows that 80% of known transmissions were from social events and within households. We are advising against all social gatherings--no matter how small--with anyone outside of your household.

The Department is renewing its work with local chambers of commerce and other business groups to help spread the word that not gathering at all is how our community can best help to control the spread and help businesses to reopen.

Vaccine update

There have been some unexpected changes in guidance from federal and state agencies this week. The Washington State Department of Health is advising that the next group, people aged 70 and over and people 50 and over living in multigenerational households (i.e., with elders), will become eligible for the vaccine “in a matter of days.” Please check our recent news flash for the best information that we currently have. We will be posting the latest updates on our web site, http://whatcomcounty.us/covidvaccine. 

You can also sign up for email updates. Select Health - Vaccine Updates for Businesses to subscribe to email updates with the latest local information about the COVID-19 vaccine. Previous updates are on this page.

We know that as business owners, you’ve had to roll with a lot of punches since last March. We appreciate your resilience and perseverance through a lot of uncertainty and unprecedented challenges. Thank you for everything that you bring to our community.