With contact tracing resources stretched, state adjusts Whatcom’s COVID case total down 18
Whatcom’s total of confirmed COVID-19 cases was adjusted down by 18 cases, the Washington State Department of Health reported Tuesday, Jan. 12. The state also reported no new related deaths since Friday.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 4,343 confirmed cases and 56 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, Jan. 11. That means that 1.3% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
Fourteen additional probable cases — an increase of two from Monday’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.
The reduction in Whatcom’s overall case count comes 24 hours after Whatcom saw its largest increase during the pandemic — a surge of 239 cases over two days.
The state did not include any explanation why Whatcom’s case total dropped Tuesday, but adjustments to COVID-19 case numbers and death totals by the state Department of Health have been frequent throughout the pandemic, as the state works to reconcile data. Whatcom last saw its total case number decreased by the state on Nov. 18, when it was lowered by two.
On Monday, the state cautioned that up to 1,150 duplicates were included statewide, and it’s possible at least some of the subtracted cases may have been included in that total.
The state cautioned that case counts Tuesday may include up to 550 duplicates statewide and that negative test results Nov. 21-30 and from Dec. 29 still are incomplete. Though Whatcom’s death total did not increase, the state said a high number were reported across the state Tuesday due to a backlog since Jan. 8.
The state Department of Health data Tuesday showed Whatcom County has had 229 hospitalizations, an increase of seven from Monday’s report. That number also may have been impacted by a backlog in data after hospitalizations were not reported Monday.
The state reported that a total of 133,527 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — an increase of 516 tests from Monday’s report.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Bellingham Herald on Wednesday it was treating a record-high 30 patients for COVID-19, two more than it reported Tuesday. 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.
Contact tracing stretched thin
Dramatically rising COVID-19 cases are beginning to stretch the limits of Whatcom County’s contract tracing, said Cindy Hollinsworth, communicable disease and epidemiology manager for the Whatcom County Health Department.
“Due to the surge, we are prioritizing interviews of cases and asking them to notify their own contacts,” Hollinsworth told the Bellingham City Council on Monday. Jan. 11.
“We do gather information about contacts who should quarantine and reach out to them for a daily check-in,” she told the council. “But we are not doing a full (contact) interview per se.”
Hollinsworth said more than 600 people were tested for COVID-19 on Monday, so health workers fear that cases will keep rising.
COVID-19 continues to spread among people who ignore guidelines meant to keep the pandemic from spreading — gathering with others indoors and spreading the illness to their family members and co-workers.
Many of those who have been exposed also resist efforts at tracing the source of their illness, Hollinsworth said.
“Overall, people are reluctant to have contact with us, so that’s a concern,” Hollinsworth said.
—Robert Mittendorf, rmittendorf@bhamherald.com
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last updated Tuesday evening for data as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, Jan. 11. 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. 20-Jan. 2 with a rate of 207.7.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people Dec. 26-Jan. 1 of 115.8. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 173.6.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 Dec. 26-Jan. 1 with a rate of 17.7%.
The latest Healthcare System Readiness risk assessment dashboard, updated Tuesday evening for data through Sunday, shows for the North region, which combines Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan and Island counties:
▪ Occupied beds: 1,040 of the region’s 1,230 adult hospital beds (84.6%) were occupied, missing the state’s goal of 80% or less.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 166 of the region’s 1,230 adult hospital beds (13.5%) were occupied by COVID patients, missing the state’s goal of 10% or less.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 94 of the region’s 138 adult ICU beds (68.1%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was a decrease of 10 beds being used from data Monday.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 28 of the region’s 138 adult ICU beds (20.3%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was a decrease of three beds being used from data Monday.
Firefighter vaccination update
Vaccination of firefighters who are responding to 911 calls started in late December and will be complete soon, Bellingham Fire Chief Bill Hewett said during a City Council meeting Monday, Jan. 11.
“Our EMS providers at the Fire Department are part of that 1A group,” Hewett said. “All of our EMS providers who were wanting the vaccine should be through their first dose by the end of the week,” Hewett said.
That also applies to all firefighters who are also EMS providers in departments throughout Whatcom County, he told the council.
In an interview last week, Hewett told The Bellingham Herald that firefighters who are paramedics or EMTs and seeing patients were eligible for the 1A tier.
But that doesn’t include command staff, including himself, he said.
—Robert Mittendorf, rmittendorf@bhamherald.com
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Wednesday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 22.8 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 381,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 91.7 million reported cases and 1.9 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Tuesday afternoon:
▪ 266,701 confirmed cases, an increase of 1,389 from reported cases on Monday.
▪ 11,843 probable cases, an increase of 469 change from Monday’s data.
▪ 16,068 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 90 from data Monday.
▪ 4,110,647 total molecular tests, an increase of 23,116 from Monday’s data.
▪ 3,789 deaths related to COVID-19, which was an increase of 90 from Monday’s data, meaning that 1.4% of the state residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
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 began in Phase 1 on Monday. 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 13, 2021 at 7:48 AM.
