Whatcom sees 69 COVID-19 cases Thursday and Friday, state reports
Whatcom County saw 69 more residents test positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health reported on Friday, Nov. 27. No new deaths were reported. The report included data from two days as the state didn’t report information on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26.
Whatcom County now has seen 2,324 confirmed cases and 53 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 26. That means that 2.3% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
The state Department of Health data Friday also shows Whatcom County has had 137 hospitalizations (an increase of one from the last report).
The Department of Health did not release test numbers Friday. It has paused reporting test numbers until Monday, Nov. 30, to clear a backlog of tests.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Bellingham Herald on Friday that it was treating 13 patients for COVID-19, a decrease of one from Wednesday, Nov. 25 and Thursday.
The Lummi Tribal Health Center late Wednesday reported two more cases, bringing the total number of cases in the Lummi community during the pandemic to 110. The Lummi community now has 32 cases so far in November and 46 since Oct. 1.
As of Wednesday, the Lummi health department reported it had 19 active cases, but no hospitalizations. During the pandemic, four people have been hospitalized, but there have been no related deaths and the health center has conducted 2,655 tests.
The Lummi Indian Business Council moved the community back into Phase 1 of its Shelter in Place Order until at least Dec. 15.
Western Washington University’s most recent on-campus student COVID testing data shows that, since Sept. 15, WWU has tested 11,536 students, 28 of whom had positive tests. The number of positive tests stood at only five as recently as the first of the month.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was updated Friday for data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday. It showed that Whatcom County is missing the marks on two key metrics goals.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents every 14 days with a rate of 147.8.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 324.6. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 290.2.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 2.9%.
Here is what the latest Healthcare System Readiness risk assessment dashboard, which was last updated through Thursday, shows for the North region, which combines Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan and Island counties:
▪ Occupied beds: 999 of the region’s 1,292 adult hospital beds (77.3%) were occupied, meeting the state’s goal of 80% or less.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 116 of the region’s 1,312 adult hospital beds (8.8%) were occupied by COVID patients, meeting the state’s goal of 10% or less.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 96 of the region’s 140 adult ICU beds (68.6%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this number.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 50 of the region’s 140 adult ICU beds (35.7%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this number.
Testing milestone
Northwest Laboratory completed its one-millionth COVID-19 test on Friday, Nov. 27, Chief Operating Officer Jenny Bull told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
Bull called the accomplishment “incomprehensible,” adding, “it is quite the accomplishment for our organization and teams in the lab.”
Northwest Laboratory announced in late March that it had successfully completed its validation to process COVID-19 tests and has since significantly helped the region rapidly process more tests during the pandemic.
That demand has certainly had an impact on the company, as Bull said, “Last year at this time, we employed approximately 106 people. We currently employ over 400 with over 350 of them local in the Whatcom County communities.”
Northwest Laboratory reports it is providing testing for multiple county health departments and for health care communities in 35 states. Among other accomplishments, the company reports it also:
▪ Distributed results in 95% of its tests in less than 24 hours with an average time after receiving samples of 14 hours.
▪ Provided test collection kits, which were in short supply early during the pandemic.
▪ Helped pioneer “batch testing” to reduce the cost of testing while still providing accurate results — a process Western Washington University used to screen more than 9,000 students this fall.
▪ Offered five drive-thru testing locations in Bellingham, Everett, Olympia, Silverdale and Spokane.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Friday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 13.07 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and 264,764 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 61.52 million reported cases and 1.44 million deaths.
Friday afternoon Washington state also reported these numbers from the Department of Health for the last two days:
▪ 158,167 reported cases, an increase of 4,261 from data on Thursday.
▪ 10,496 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 254 from data Thursday.
▪ 2,703 deaths related to COVID-19, a decrease of one from data reported Thursday, meaning that 1.7% of the state residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
Washington state actions
Gov. Inslee announced new rules Sunday, Nov. 15, that eliminate indoor service at restaurants and bars, close indoor activity at gyms, and limit occupancy at retail stores to 25% in an effort to curb the dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases in Washington state.
The restrictions are scheduled to last four weeks, until Dec. 14.
Inslee issued a travel advisory for Washington state on Friday, Nov. 13, recommending Washington state residents self-quarantine for 14 days when they return home after traveling out of the state. The governors of Oregon and California joined Inslee in making similar advisories for their states.
On Tuesday, Oct. 13, Inslee moved all counties in modified Phase 1 to Phase 2, but his July 28 extension of an indefinite pause on counties moving ahead in the Safe Start Washington plan remains in place. That came a week after Inslee loosened some restrictions for activities and businesses.
That means 22 counties — including Whatcom — are in Phase 2 and 17 counties are in Phase 3.
This story was originally published November 27, 2020 at 4:59 PM.
