Whatcom sees one additional death and 32 COVID-19 cases Friday, state reports
Whatcom’s County’s COVID-19-related death count increased by one and 32 new cases were reported by the Washington State Department of Health Friday, Dec. 11.
Whatcom County now has seen 2,834 confirmed cases and 52 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 10. That means that 1.8% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
The addition of one death came one day after three deaths were removed from Whatcom’s total and 214 statewide, as the state announced late Thursday that it is changing the way that it reports COVID-related death statistics.
The state Department of Health data Friday also showed Whatcom County has had 161 hospitalizations (unchanged from Thursday’s report).
The state also reported that a total of 98,386 tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — an increase of 144 tests from Thursday’s report. The state continues to caution that “test data from Nov. 21 through today are incomplete and should be interpreted with caution.”
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Bellingham Herald on Friday that it was treating 15 patients for COVID-19 — up one from Thursday. The hospital hit a record of 21 COVID-19 patients on Tuesday, Dec. 1.
Bellingham Public Schools has seen two new cases in elementary schools this week, resulting in two more classes being shifted to online learning, according to the district’s new COVID-19 Dashboard, which launched Wednesday. That brings to five the number of cases the school district has seen since students began returning for in-person learning. One class at Alderwood Elementary joins another class at Silver Beach elementary in closures, with expected returns to schools on Monday, Jan. 4.
The Nooksack Indian Tribe announced in a Facebook post Friday that it has two presumptive positive tests for COVID-19, though confirmation was still pending. On Wednesday, Dec. 9, the tribe had five presumptive positive tests.
The post listed four positive cases since the pandemic began: 1 non-tribal employee, 2 tribe members and 1 non-tribal spouse. The tribe has had 1,892 negative tests and 65 tests that have not yet been completed.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last 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 239.2.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 36.1. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 202.0. The state Department of Health has said that testing data since Nov. 21 is incomplete, and that likely impacting this metric.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 41.2%. The state Department of Health has said that testing data since Nov. 21 is incomplete, and that likely impacting this metric.
The latest Healthcare System Readiness risk assessment dashboard, which was last updated Friday for data through Thursday, shows for the North region, which combines Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan and Island counties:
▪ Occupied beds: 1,025 of the region’s 1,249 adult hospital beds (82.1%) were occupied, missing the state’s goal of 80% or less.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 125 of the region’s 1,270 adult hospital beds (9.8%) were occupied by COVID patients, making the state’s goal of 10% or less.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 96 of the region’s 139 adult ICU beds (69.1%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but the number is four less than in Thursday’s report.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 35 of the region’s 139 adult ICU beds (25.2%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but four more beds were occupied than in Thursday’s report.
Death reporting
The Washington State Department of Health has changed the way that it will report deaths, it announced late Thursday, and that likely was the reason Whatcom County’s death total was reduced by three earlier in the evening.
The change is intended to provide more accurate daily reports, according to the release, and should streamline the process. Preliminary causes of death will no longer be used on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard — only official registered causes of death.
The changes resulted in 214 previously reported deaths being removed from the state’s COVID death total on Thursday, though approximately 152 of them may be added back once the cause of death is investigated and officially determined.
“This modified process requires that we make adjustments publicly and quickly without impacting the quality of the data or of our reporting,” the state’s new release stated. “Deaths due to factors other than COVID-19 can be hard to definitively rule out. For many of these conditions, COVID-19 may have hastened the death. These are the deaths we are reviewing, along with local health jurisdictions, to assess COVID-19’s impact on the death.”
Among the changes, the Department of Health said it will no longer assume a death is caused by COVID-19 if a positive lab result was reported more than 28 days before death and deaths will not be ruled COVID-related until they are fully registered in the Washington State Health and Life Event System.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Friday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 15.8 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and 294,320 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 70.1 million reported cases and 1.59 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Friday afternoon:
▪ 195,554 reported cases, an increase of 3,141 from data on Thursday.
▪ 12,237 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 153 from data Thursday.
▪ 3,285,936 total tests, an increase of 29,098 from Thursday.
▪ 2,879 deaths related to COVID-19, an increase of 29 from what was reported Thursday and meaning that 1.5% of the state residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
Latest state situation report
The Department of Health’s latest statewide situation report on COVID-19 transmission showed a lot of uncertainty after the Thanksgiving holiday impacted people’s decisions about whether to seek testing or healthcare, according to a release.
The report showed:
▪ COVID-19 continued to spread at a rapid rate throughout the state in mid-November with a reproductive number of 1.44 in western Washington and 1.33 in eastern Washington as of Nov. 15. The goal is one or lower, meaning infection rates are declining.
▪ Infection rates in 30 of 39 counties surpassed 200 cases per 100,000 residents prior to Thanksgiving.
▪ Cases, hospitalizations and deaths increased sharply, with the seven-day, rolling average of cases in western Washington eight times higher on Nov. 20 than it was Sept. 12 and five times higher on the east side of the Cascades.
▪ Daily hospitalizations reached peak levels from March, with eastern Washington levels increasing threefold and western Washington levels increasing fourfold.
▪ Estimates show that as of Nov. 20, 0.52% of all Washington residents had an active COVID-19 infection — higher than the previous peak in late March.
“We are still seeing some alarming trends in our data as we wait to see the full impact of any gatherings that took place over Thanksgiving,” Secretary of Health John Wiesman said in the release. “We must stay the course going into winter holidays to avoid overwhelming our hospitals. While there are reasons to feel hopeful, including our progress toward distributing COVID-19 vaccine, right now we need to continue to make the choices we know will slow transmission. Mask up, gather remotely and stay at home as much as possible.”
Vaccine update
The Washington State Department of Health said in a release Thursday that it is expecting an estimated 62,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine next week, assuming the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations approves the drug company’s emergency use authorization.
An advisory panel voted to recommend approval on Thursday, according to the release, which added that the state is expecting approximately 222,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of December — approximately 20,000 more than initially expected.
The state also reported it expected to receive approximately 183,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine by the end of December, assuming the FDA approved the emergency use authorization, and weekly shipments should begin in January.
Initially, the vaccine will be distributed at 17 sites across 13 counties, though the release did not include where those locations were. PeaceHealth has previously told The Bellingham Herald it has applied to distribute the vaccines at St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham and is awaiting word on its application.
Washington state actions
Gov. Inslee announced rules 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.
Those restrictions were originally scheduled to last until Dec. 14, but on Dec. 8, Inslee announced they have been extended another three weeks to Jan. 4.
Inslee issued a travel advisory for Washington state on 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 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 December 11, 2020 at 5:00 PM.
