Today, we debuted a new Respiratory Virus Dashboard page. Get Whatcom County data on COVID-19, influenza (flu), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), all in one place. Data comes from the North Sound Region and Whatcom County. The dashboards will update weekly on Wednesdays and will reflect data for the previous week.
Why was this page created?
We recognize the need to show local and regional data related to COVID-19, flu, and RSV. This dashboard enables healthcare facilities and individuals to better track respiratory virus activity. It allows everyone to make informed decisions to keep patients, caregivers, and themselves safer. When virus levels are high it indicates we have community spread. This page serves the following groups:
- Healthcare Facilities: When the dashboards indicate disease activity of one or more of these viruses are high, some healthcare facilities in Whatcom County are voluntarily adopting masking requirements for employees and/or patients. This page will help those healthcare facilities make informed decisions regarding infection control practices. You can learn more about regional guidelines here.
- High-risk Community Members: Allows community members who are at high-risk for severe disease to make informed decisions that are right for them, based on current disease activity. This might mean wearing a mask in a crowded indoor space, or checking with their doctor to make sure they are up to date on recommended vaccines.
- Everyone: Allows everyone to make informed decisions based on current disease activity, especially if they live or work with people who are at high-risk for severe disease. This might mean choosing to mask or avoiding high-risk situations where transmission is more likely.
“We have developed this tool to make it easier for individuals and healthcare facilities to make choices to protect their health or the health of their patients,” said Co-Health Officer Dr. Amy Harley. “The respiratory dashboard will indicate when we have community spread of these viruses and people may want to take additional precautions during that time. There are simple precautions people can take to reduce the spread of these viruses like wearing a mask, washing their hands, and staying home if sick.”
This page will replace our COVID-19 Data page. The COVID-19 Data page will retire on January 31, 2024. Please update your hyperlinks and bookmarks to the new dashboard at https://www.whatcomcounty.us/4281/Respiratory-Virus-Data-Dashboards. Retirement of this page will break any current hyperlinks and bookmarks to this page.
