After another record week, Whatcom sees 29 new COVID-19 cases Monday, state reports
Whatcom County saw 29 more residents test positive for COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health reported on Monday, Nov. 29, but no deaths related to coronavirus were reported over the weekend.
Whatcom County now has seen 2,386 confirmed cases and 53 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 29. That means that 2.2% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
The number of new cases could decrease, as the state reported “incomplete data” on Monday due to increased laboratory volumes, according to a note on the dashboard. The dashboard note said up to 400 duplicate cases statewide may be included in Monday’s report, but any duplications would be corrected within the period allotted for incomplete data.
The state also pushed back when it plans to resume reporting negative test data until the end of the week on Friday, Dec. 4. Those results were originally expected to resume Monday, as the state worked through a backlog of tests.
The state Department of Health data Monday also shows Whatcom County has had 142 hospitalizations (an increase of three from Sunday).
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Bellingham Herald on Monday that it was treating 17 patients for COVID-19, no change from Sunday but just one less than the record 18 reported Nov. 23.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was updated Monday for data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday. 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 194.0.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 325.0. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 290.7.
▪ 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 Monday for data through Sunday, shows for the North region, which combines Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan and Island counties:
▪ Occupied beds: 999 of the region’s 1,289 adult hospital beds (77.5%) were occupied, meeting the state’s goal of 80% or less.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 120 of the region’s 1,309 adult hospital beds (9.2%) were occupied by COVID patients, meeting the state’s goal of 10% or less.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 89 of the region’s 140 adult ICU beds (63.6%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but seven fewer beds are occupied than in Friday’s report.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 33 of the region’s 140 adult ICU beds (23.6%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but 17 fewer beds are occupied than in Friday’s report.
Another record week
The state Department of Health reported 304 new cases in Whatcom County last week — the highest weekly number of new cases the county has seen during the pandemic, smashing the old record of 197 set one week earlier — as the reported case total grew from 2,039 on Saturday, Nov. 21, to 2,343 on Saturday, Nov. 28.
It marked the fourth time during the pandemic that Whatcom’s weekly new cases made triple digits and the third straight week Whatcom has surpassed 100 cases in a week.
The test positivity rate for the week was not able to be estimated, as the state did not update the number of tests conducted since Nov. 21, as it attempted to catch up during the fall surge of cases. New is not expected to be released until Friday, according to the state Department of Health.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Monday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 13.5 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and 267,844 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 66.1 million reported cases and 1.4 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Monday:
▪ 165,0191 reported cases, an increase of 2,319 from data on Sunday.
▪ 10,895 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 136 from data Sunday.
▪ 2,774 deaths related to COVID-19, an increase of 71 from Friday, meaning that 1.7% of the state residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
WWU delays in-person classes
Western Washington University announced in a campus advisory Monday, Nov. 30, that it will delay the start of in-person classes until after Martin Luther King Day, though winter quarter classes will still begin on Jan. 5 with remote learning.
“With the likelihood of higher case rates than we observed fall quarter, and the need to ensure adequate testing capacity, the start of winter quarter in-person classes will be delayed at Western’s main campus in Bellingham,” the advisory stated.
All course work through Jan. 19 will be done remotely, according to the advisory.
Before the Thanksgiving break, Western Washington University’s on-campus student COVID testing data showed that, WWU tested 11,536 students since Sept. 15, 28 of whom had positive tests. The number of positive tests stood at only five as recently as the first of the month.
All course work for the remainder of the fall quarter has already been moved online.
Washington state actions
Gov. Inslee announced 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 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 30, 2020 at 4:52 PM.
