Whatcom has 84 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in two days, state says Monday
Whatcom County has 84 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and nine probable cases in the last two days, according to the Washington State Department of Health Monday, Dec. 21. No new deaths were reported for the county.
Whatcom County now has seen 3,177 confirmed cases, and 52 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20. That means that 1.6% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
Nine 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 Monday also showed Whatcom County has had 169 hospitalizations, an increase of one since the Saturday, Dec. 19, report.
The state also reported that a total of 102,535 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — an increase of 2,887 tests from Saturday’s report. The state continues to caution that “test data from Nov. 21 through today are incomplete and should be interpreted with caution.”
The state no longer updates the COVID-19 dashboard on Sundays. Monday’s update includes case and hospitalization counts that would have been released on 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 11 patients for COVID-19 — an increase of one from 10 on Saturday and Sunday.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard on Monday for data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday 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 220.6.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 76.7. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 293.8. 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 19.0%. 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, updated Monday for data through Sunday, shows for the North region, which combines Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan and Island counties:
▪ Occupied beds: 963 of the region’s 1,209 adult hospital beds (79.7%) were occupied, missing the state’s goal of 80% or less.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 116 of the region’s 1,209 adult hospital beds (9.6%) were occupied by COVID patients, making the state’s goal of 10% or less.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 80 of the region’s 140 adult ICU beds (57.1%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was a decrease of seven from Friday’s report.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 30 of the region’s 140 adult ICU beds (21.4%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was a decrease of four from Friday’s report.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Monday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 18 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and 319,190 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 77.29 million reported cases and 1.7 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Monday afternoon:
▪ 218,415 confirmed cases, an increase of 3,949 from reported cases on Saturday.
▪ 8,220 probable cases, an increase of 86 from Saturday’s data.
▪ 13,515 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 124 from data Saturday.
▪ 3,559,695 total molecular tests, an increase of 56,118 from Saturday’s data.
▪ 3,106 deaths related to COVID-19, an increase of two from what was reported on Friday, 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.
