Bellingham notifies City Hall tent encampment residents of cleanup coming Friday
The Bellingham Herald 1/21/2021 Denver Pratt, The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.)
Jan. 21 The City of Bellingham notified people staying in a temporary tent encampment at Bellingham City Hall that they would have to stop camping and remove their belongings by Friday morning.
The city s Public Works Department provided notice to campers, volunteers and organizers at Camp 210 on Tuesday, Jan. 19, according to the city.
Camp 210 is a group of homeless campers living in tents on the lawns of City Hall (210 Lottie St.) and the Bellingham Public Library (210 Central Ave.). It was set up in November to protest the lack of shelter in the area.
Bellingham opens this new temporary winter shelter for the homeless
The Bellingham Herald 1/3/2021 Kie Relyea, The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.)
Jan. 3 BELLINGHAM A temporary winter shelter for the homeless in the parking lot of Frank Geri Softball Fields on Puget Street has opened, and 10 people are living there so far, according to the Bellingham nonprofit that is operating the site.
Known as Swift Haven, the encampment opened Saturday, Dec. 26. The first residents are living in tents, which will soon be replaced by tiny homes that are expected to arrive at the site starting the week of Jan. 4.
Another 18 people are waiting to be cleared by the Bellingham Police Department, which will check for warrants a normal process, said Doug Gustafson, chairman of HomesNOW!, operator of Swift Haven.
By lmurphy December 31, 2020 4:08 pm
KGMI
BELLINGHAM, Wash. Multiple people have been evacuated from the Base Camp homeless shelter in Bellingham after one tested positive for COVID-19.
The exact number of people transferred to the isolation and quarantine facility on Byron Avenue has not yet been confirmed by the health department.
Bridget Reeves, Associate Executive Director of Lighthouse Mission Ministries, confirmed the guest tested positive for the illness during routine testing at the shelter.
She says this is the first COVID-19 case linked to the shelter in weeks.
The shelter will continue to screen all guests for COVID-19 before admittance.
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Whatcom wraps up worst month yet with 81 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, state reports
The Bellingham Herald 1/1/2021 David Rasbach, The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.)
Dec. 31 Whatcom County has 81 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to the Washington State Department of Health on Thursday, Dec. 31. No new deaths were recorded.
The state reported case counts may include up to 750 duplicates in Washington.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 3,469 confirmed cases and 55 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 30. That means that 1.6% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
Base Camp deploys rapid COVID tests for admittance into Bellingham homeless shelter
The Bellingham Herald 12/18/2020 Kie Relyea, The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.)
Dec. 18 BELLINGHAM The operator of Base Camp is turning to rapid COVID-19 testing to help screen people who want to be admitted to the homeless shelter in Bellingham.
The shelter has been a little over half of its capacity in recent weeks, in part, because of restrictions Lighthouse Mission Ministries put into place after a COVID-19 outbreak was linked to Base Camp and Camp 210, a homeless tent encampment at City Hall and the Bellingham Public Library.
The low capacity was a concern for city of Bellingham and Whatcom County government officials, both of which have contributed funding for the shelter space to allow for social distancing during the new coronavirus pandemic.