Whatcom sees 27 confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday, as sixth Bellingham classroom closes
Whatcom County has 27 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and eight probable cases, according to the Washington State Department of Health Friday, Dec. 18. No additional deaths were reported for Whatcom County.
Whatcom County now has seen 3,069 confirmed cases, and 52 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17. That means that 1.7% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
Eight probable cases have been reported in Whatcom County during the pandemic resulting from positive antigen tests, but those cases were not confirmed by a molecular test.
On Wednesday, Dec. 16, the state added probable cases reported since June 2020 to all case, hospitalization, and death counts. “Probable cases are those where individuals had a positive antigen test result for COVID-19, but no positive molecular test result,” according to the state Health Department website.
The state Department of Health data Friday also showed Whatcom County has had 167 hospitalizations, an increase of one from Thursday’s report.
The state also reported that a total of 99,476 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — a increase of 11,541 tests from Thursday’s report but just 357 from Wednesday’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 eight patients for COVID-19 — a decrease of three from Thursday.
Dubious milestones
With 66 cases reported on Thursday, Whatcom County surpassed 3,000 COVID-19 cases during the pandemic. That milestone came just 15 days after the county surpassed 2,500 cases on Dec. 2.
Fortunately, that was slightly slower than the 10 days it took the county to move from 2,000 cases (on Nov. 20) to 2,500.
For the record, it took Whatcom County 156 days to surpass 1,000 cases, another 100 days to surpass 2,000, and only 25 days to reach 3,000.
Sixth Bellingham classroom closes
A sixth elementary school classroom within Bellingham Public Schools has had to return to remote learning after a member of the classroom tested positive for COVID-19 this week, according to the district’s dashboard.
This week it was a class at Lowell Elementary that had one new case, according to the dashboard. The classroom has been closed until Jan. 4.
Single cases have previously been reported the week of Nov. 16 at Birchwood Elementary, the week of Nov. 23 at Wade King Elementary, the week of Nov. 30 at Birchwood Elementary and the week of Dec. 7 at Silver Beach and Alderwood elementary. Classrooms from the Dec. 7 cases also are out until Jan. 4, while the other three classrooms have already returned to in-person learning.
The dashboard does not report whether students or staff were infected. As of Friday, Dec. 18, the district estimated 1,600 students had returned to in-person learning and 875 staff were working on site.
Lummi approves vaccine trial
One day after administering the first of 300 Pfizer vaccine doses to a tribal member, the Lummi Nation announced in a news release Friday that it has approved the tribe’s participation in phase 3 of the Novavax trial. The decision came after a three-step process that included community input.
“We are blessed that we have been able to begin administering vaccines to elders and frontline workers, but we want every option made available to our relatives to fight the pandemic,” Lummi Nation Chairman Lawrence Solomon said in the release. “The vaccine trial is just one more tool they have if they want it.”
Lummi previously pulled out of the AstraZeneca trial, citing communication challenges and a pause in the study due to adverse reactions by trial participants.
The approval to enter the Novavax trial came aver the Northwest Indian College Institutional Review Board, the Lummi Health Commission and the Lummi Indian Business Council each reviewed the trial.
“After careful review of the Novavax trial, we are optimistic that this is a better fit for Lummi members who want to participate,” Lummi Public Health Department Director Dr. Dakotah Lane said in the release. “Native peoples are at a much higher risk of severe symptoms and death from the coronavirus, so there’s a lot at stake with combating the pandemic in our tribal communities.”
Trial volunteers should be able to begin enrolling in the trial as soon as the FDA gives the green light to do so, according to the release. The study has the ability to enroll up to 200 volunteers, a third of which will receive a placebo.
“The recent success of other vaccine trials is good news,” Lane said in the release. “I don’t think there’s anything we can infer from the success of other trials just yet, but I’m pleased that we are able to provide our Lummi Nation members an opportunity to participate in a fully-vetted trial if they choose to do so.”
The Lummi Tribal Health Center has reported 133 cases within the Lummi community during the pandemic, including 69 new cases since Oct. 1. As of Sunday, Dec. 13, the Lummi health department reported it had 13 active cases and no hospitalizations. During the pandemic, four people have been hospitalized, but there have been no related deaths and the health center has conducted 3,028 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 219.7.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 42.0. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 295.8. The state Department of Health has said that testing data since Nov. 21 is incomplete and that is 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 38.9%. The state Department of Health has said that testing data since Nov. 21 is incomplete and that is 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: 1,061 of the region’s 1,237 adult hospital beds (85.8%) were occupied, missing the state’s goal of 80% or less.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 133 of the region’s 1,237 adult hospital beds (10.8%) were occupied by COVID patients, missing the state’s goal of 10% or less.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 87 of the region’s 140 adult ICU beds (62.1%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was a decrease of five from Thursday’s report.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 34 of the region’s 140 adult ICU beds (26.4%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was an increase of three from Thursday’s report.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Friday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 17.4 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and 312,983 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 75.49 million reported cases and 1.67 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Friday evening:
▪ 212,283 confirmed cases, an increase of 2,939 from reported cases on Thursday.
▪ 7,985 probable cases, an increase of 124 from Thursday’s data.
▪ 13,291 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 56 from data Thursday.
▪ 3,478,628 total molecular tests, an increase of 713,224 from Thursday’s data but just 45,736 more from Wednesday’s data for overall tests.
▪ 3,104 deaths related to COVID-19, 13 fewer than were reported Thursday, meaning that 1.4% of the state residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
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 18, 2020 at 6:22 PM.
