Whatcom County sees 45 new COVID-19 cases, state reports on Saturday

Whatcom County recorded 45 new COVID-19 cases, according to the Washington State Department of Health Saturday, Dec. 12. Deaths are not reported on the weekends.

Whatcom County now has seen 2,879 confirmed cases and 52 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Friday, Dec. 11. That means that 1.8% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.

The state Department of Health data Saturday also showed Whatcom County has had 163 hospitalizations (an increase of one from Friday’s report).

The state also reported that a total of 98,623 tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — an increase of 237 tests from Friday’s report. The state continues to caution that “test data from Nov. 21 through today are incomplete and should be interpreted with caution.” Up to 2,100 duplicate cases may be included in statewide totals, according to the state.

St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Bellingham Herald on Saturday that it was treating 10 patients for COVID-19 — down five from Friday. The hospital hit a record of 21 COVID-19 patients on Tuesday, Dec. 1.

Western Washington University’s most recent on-campus student COVID testing data shows Saturday that, since Sept. 15, WWU has tested 13,736 students, 37 of whom had positive tests.

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.

Numbers elsewhere

COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Saturday evening:

▪ The U.S. has more than 16.03 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and 297,697 deaths.

▪ Worldwide, there are more than 71.6 million reported cases and 1.6 million deaths.

Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Saturday evening:

▪ 199,735 reported cases, an increase of 4,181 from data on Friday.

▪ 12,368 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 131 from data Friday.

▪ 3,320,070 total tests, an increase of 34,134 from Friday.

▪ 2,879 deaths related to COVID-19 were reported Friday, meaning that 1.4% of the state residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died. Deaths are not reported on the weekends.

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 12, 2020 at 5:34 PM.