Whatcom sees 36 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, state says Thursday
Whatcom County has 36 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and continues to have nine probable cases, according to the Washington State Department of Health on Thursday, Dec. 24. No new deaths were reported for the county.
The state did not release any COVID-19 statistics on Friday, Dec. 25.
By Thursday, Whatcom County had seen 3,266 confirmed cases, and 52 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 22. 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 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 Thursday showed Whatcom County has had 174 hospitalizations, an increase of three since Wednesday’s report.
The state reported that a total of 111,276 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — an increase of 2,3581 tests 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 Thursday that it was treating 10 patients for COVID-19 — an increase of two from Wednesday. On Friday, Dec. 25, the hospital reported an increase of six patients for a total of 16.
Whatcom testing closures
The Whatcom County mobile testing program will be closed on Friday, Dec. 25, and Friday, Jan. 1, in addition to its regular Thursday and Sunday closures.
The drive-thru testing program at the Northwest Washington Fairgrounds, 1775 Front St., Lynden, is available by appointment only.
You can make an appointment online at TestDirectly.com or by calling 360-778-6075 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler Wednesday extended until Jan. 23 his order requiring health insurers to waive copays and deductibles for any consumer requiring testing for COVID-19 and his order protecting consumers from receiving surprise bills for lab fees related to medically necessary diagnostic testing for COVID-19.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard on Thursday for data as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday 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 213.93.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 95.4. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 296.9. 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 14.3%. 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 Thursday for data through Wednesday, shows for the North region, which combines Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan and Island counties:
▪ Occupied beds: 992 of the region’s 1,215 adult hospital beds (81.6%) were occupied, missing the state’s goal of 80% or less.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 126 of the region’s 1,215 adult hospital beds (10.4%) were occupied by COVID patients, missing the state’s goal of 10% or less.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 78 of the region’s 140 adult ICU beds (55.7%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was a decrease of 17 from Wednesday’s report.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 29 of the region’s 140 adult ICU beds (20.7%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was an increase of seven from Wednesday’s report.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Thursday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 18.62 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and 328,760 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 79.27 million reported cases and 1.74 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Thursday afternoon:
▪ 224,339 confirmed cases, an increase of 2,704 from reported cases on Wednesday.
▪ 8,694 probable cases, an increase of 187 from Wednesday’s data.
▪ 13,908 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 291 from data Wednesday.
▪ 3,649,210 total molecular tests, an increase of 28,560 from Wednesday’s data.
▪ 3,184 deaths related to COVID-19, an increase of 22 from Wednesday’s data, 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 24, 2020 at 4:06 PM.
