Whatcom’s record-breaking pace continues with 239 new COVID cases Monday, state reports
Whatcom County set a new record for most new COVID-19 cases reported with 239 confirmed cases Monday, Jan. 11, by the Washington State Department of Health. The state did not report new related deaths or hospitalizations Monday.
While 239 is the most cases Whatcom has seen its overall reported caseload increase at once, it represents data from two days — an average of 119.5 per day — as the Department of Health does not release data on Sundays any longer. Whatcom’s single-day record for new cases reported still stands at 171 on Thursday, Jan. 7.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 4,361 confirmed cases and 56 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 10. That means that 1.3% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
Twelve additional probable cases — no change from Saturday’s report — have been reported in Whatcom County during the pandemic, resulting from positive antigen tests, but those cases were not confirmed by a molecular test.
In the past seven days, Whatcom has averaged 96.9 new confirmed cases reported per day, the highest rate it has seen during the pandemic.
The state cautioned that case counts Monday may include up to 1,150 duplicates statewide and that negative test results Nov. 21-30 and from Dec. 28 still may be incomplete. The state also added that regular reporting should resume Tuesday, Jan. 12.
The state Department of Health data Monday showed Whatcom County has had 212 hospitalizations, an increase of five from Saturday’s report.
The state reported that a total of 133,011 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — an increase of 1,231 tests from Saturday’s report.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Bellingham Herald on Monday it was treating 28 patients for COVID-19, three more than the record 25 it reported Monday and seven more than the previous record of 21 patients set Dec. 1 and matched Jan. 4.
St. Joseph began banning visitors at the medical center until further notice, starting at 5 a.m. Monday, Jan. 11, while COVID-19 remains a public health threat, according to a Friday Facebook post.
Western Washington University’s most recent on-campus student COVID testing data show Monday that, since Sept. 15, WWU has tested 15,677 students, 43 of whom had positive tests. Five of those positive tests occurred last week, as the school resumed testing following the winter break. The school reported it conducted 1,928 tests between Jan. 5 and 9.
The Nooksack Indian Tribe announced in a Facebook post Monday that it has seen one more confirmed case within its community, bringing the pandemic total to 37. Twelve cases are active, while 24 have recovered, according to the post. So far, the Nooksack health team has conducted 2,531 tests during the pandemic, with results for 11 pending. Nooksack instituted a Shelter in Place Order on Wednesday, Jan. 6, mandating that all residents stay in their homes except for essential reasons and restricted them from gatherings with people outside their households until further notice.
The Lummi Tribal Health Center reported in a Facebook post two new cases Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in the Lummi community during the pandemic to 188. The Lummi health department reported it had 43 active cases and one hospitalization. During the pandemic, six people have been hospitalized, but there have been no related deaths and the health center has conducted 3,430 tests. Positive tests for the last two weeks are at 15.52%. The Lummi Indian Business Council has issued a Phase 1 Shelter in Place Order through Jan. 12.
Weekly case watch
Whatcom County had more COVID-19 cases reported last week than at any other point during the pandemic by a substantial margin.
The Washington State Department of Health reported 653 new cases last week between Jan. 3 and 9, as its pandemic total climbed from 3,469 to 4,122 (an 18.8% growth).
Granted, the weekly data is skewed due to a data processing error that prevented the state from releasing two days worth of data on Jan. 2, meaning data from that date and the New Year’s holiday were included Jan. 3. But even without all 171 cases reported Jan. 3, Whatcom far surpassed the previous weekly high of 304 reported between Nov. 22 and 28.
In addition to the 171 cases reported Jan. 3, Whatcom also had the largest two single-day totals it’s seen during the pandemic with 171 cases reported Thursday and another 121 reported Friday.
Last week’s total marked the ninth straight week Whatcom has surpassed 100 cases in a week and the 10th week during the pandemic that the county’s case total has reached triple figures in a week.
Though the state continued to caution that testing data since Dec. 23 is incomplete, it reported a total of 3,746 tests between Jan. 3 and 9, meaning Whatcom’s test positivity was approximately 17.4% last week.
Dubious milestones
With 121 cases reported Friday, Whatcom County surpassed 4,000 confirmed cases during the pandemic, and with 307 more cases reported since, it is already well on its way to 5,000.
It took Whatcom County only 23 days to see its case total climb from 3,000 on Dec. 17 to 4,000. For comparison, it took the county 156 days after the first case was confirmed to reach 1,000 total cases on Aug. 12. It took another 100 days to reach 2,000 cases on Nov. 20.
So, while it took 256 days to reach 2,000 cases, it took Whatcom only 50 days to more than double that number.
Schools update
Bellingham Public Schools announced on its online dashboard Monday that it had a seventh case of COVID-19 requiring contact tracing notification last week between Jan. 4 and 8.
The case was reported at was called a “non-school-based worksite.” District spokesperson Dana Smith clarified for The Bellingham Herald in an email that the case required an investigation at a site such as the district offices or the school bus yard, but the exact location could not be released in an effort to maintain staff and student privacy.
According to the dashboard, only one confirmed case has been diagnosed and that only select contacts will require remote learning or quarantine. They are expected to return Jan. 21.
The district reported six cases in 2020 in elementary schools, each was for only one case and impacted only one classroom, according to the dashboard. Each of the six classes has since returned to in-person learning.
The district estimates that it has 1,600 students and 875 staff working in in-person situations.
The Lynden School District’s dashboard on Monday reported two new cases in two different classrooms last week. One case was at Bernice Vossbeck Elementary and one was in preschool. Both involved only one case each but required the classrooms be closed. Students are expected to return in both classes on Jan. 20.
That brings to 10 the total number of cases in nine incidents for the Lynden School District. Three of the nine reported incidents did not require the classroom to be closed.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last updated Monday evening for data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 10. With a shift to “Healthy Washington” goals to resume business activities, the state was more specific on reporting dates for some metrics. The dashboard does not update on the weekends.
Whatcom County was missing the marks on two key metrics.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents Dec. 19-Jan. 1 with a rate of 219.7.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people Dec. 25-31 of 88.9. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 158.9. The state’s incomplete testing data is likely impacting this metric.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 Dec. 25-31 with a rate of 21.7%. The state’s incomplete testing data is likely impacting this metric.
The latest Healthcare System Readiness risk assessment dashboard, updated Monday evening for data through Sunday, shows for the North region, which combines Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan and Island counties:
▪ Occupied beds: 1,128 of the region’s 1,275 adult hospital beds (88.5%) were occupied, missing the state’s goal of 80% or less.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 157 of the region’s 1,275 adult hospital beds (12.3%) were occupied by COVID patients, missing the state’s goal of 10% or less.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 104 of the region’s 152 adult ICU beds (68.4%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was an increase of 26 beds being used from data Friday.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 31 of the region’s 152 adult ICU beds (20.4%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was an increase of two beds being used from data Friday.
WA Notify update
The Washington State Department of Health will begin texting a verification code to anybody who tests positive for COVID-19 in an effort to faster alert others who may have been exposed, according to a release.
In addition to receiving notification of a positive from their health care provider or testing facility, people will now receive a text that includes a link to activate verification codes within WA Notify. If they enter the code, it will anonymously alert users who may have been exposed, according to the release.
The text should arrive within 24 hours after a positive test result, the release states, and anyone not utilizing WA Notify can simply disregard it.
Previously, health officials had to provide the verification code, according to the release, so the hope is the new process will speed up notices and more quickly alert those who may have been exposed.
“Adoption of exposure notification technology has been strong in Washington state, so I’m pleased we’re able to make this improvement to get verification codes to WA Notify users faster,” deputy secretary for COVID-19 response Lacy Fehrenbach said in the release. “The earlier someone is notified of a possible exposure, the more quickly they can take steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and potentially save lives.”
Nearly 1.66 million Washington residents have activated WA Notify since Nov. 30, according to the release, enabling anonymous exposure notification on their smartphones in the hopes of slowing COVID-19’s spread.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Tuesday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 22.6 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 376,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 91.0 million reported cases and 1.9 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Monday afternoon:
▪ 265,312 confirmed cases, an increase of 4,952 from reported cases on Saturday.
▪ 11,374 probable cases, an increase of 139 change from Saturday’s data.
▪ 15,978 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 207 from data Saturday.
▪ 4,087,531 total molecular tests, an increase of 52,757 from Saturday’s data.
▪ 3,699 deaths related to COVID-19, which was an increase of one from Friday’s data, meaning that 1.3% of the state residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died. New deaths are not reported on the weekends.
Washington state actions
In the “Healthy Washington” plan introduced by Gov. Jay Inslee Tuesday, Jan. 5, business resumption is tied to targets by health system regions. Whatcom is tied to Skagit, San Juan and Island counties in the plan.
The state will run analyses each Friday to determine whether regions will move backward or forward in phases the following Monday, officials said.
All regions begin in Phase 1 on Jan. 11. It allows live entertainment with ticketed groups of up to 10 people and very limited fitness activities such as appointment-based training in gyms.
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 7:59 AM.
