Whatcom’s ‘concerning’ surge continues with 109 cases Wednesday, as Lummi reports death
A day after its case count took a step back, Whatcom County’s number of confirmed COVID-19 diagnoses surged forward with 109 new positive tests reported on the Washington State Department of Health dashboard Wednesday, Jan. 13. Though the state reported no new related deaths Wednesday, the Lummi Nation said that its community saw its first death that could be linked to coronavirus.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 4,452 confirmed cases and 56 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12. That means that 1.3% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
Thirteen additional probable cases — a decrease of one from Tuesday’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 109 confirmed cases reported Wednesday mark the fifth time Whatcom County has reached triple digits in new cases, all of which have occurred since Jan. 3. The county has already seen its pandemic total jump by 983 cases in the first 13 days of 2021 and has averaged 98.6 reported cases per day the past week — its highest average for any seven-day stretch during the pandemic.
“What we have seen in the first 11 days of January puts us on track to triple our previous high for any month during the pandemic and almost double our cases we’ve had since March 11 (the first day a confirmed case was announced) in a single month,” Whatcom County Health Department Director Erika Lautenbach said in an online briefing Wednesday.
“What’s even more concerning is we’re seeing increases all over the county, not just in one jurisdiction or in one school district boundary.”
Lautenbach said Whatcom is also seeing substantial increases across all age groups in Whatcom County, including the most vulnerable elderly.
“This does look like Whatcom County is an anomaly in our region and the state,” Lautenbach said. “Whatcom is rising faster than elsewhere in the state. We have exceeded the state average, and that has never happened before. We’re an anomaly, and we do not know why.”
The state Department of Health data Wednesday showed Whatcom County has had 222 hospitalizations during the pandemic, a decrease of seven from Tuesday’s report, though the state said hospitalization counts were incomplete Wednesday due to an interruption in the data reporting process. Full counts are expected to be updated Thursday, Jan. 14.
The state also reported that a total of 134,446 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — an increase of 919 tests from Tuesday’s report.
The state cautioned that case counts Wednesday may include up to 520 duplicates statewide and that negative test results Nov. 21-30 and from Dec. 29 still are incomplete.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Bellingham Herald on Thursday it was treating 22 patients for COVID-19, eight fewer than the record-high 30 it reported Wednesday. 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, Jan. 8, Facebook post.
Western Washington University’s most recent on-campus student COVID testing data show Tuesday that, since Sept. 15, WWU has tested 15,6311 students, 52 of whom had positive tests — an increase of nine since Tuesday’s report. The college has now seen 14 new cases since the school resumed testing following the winter break.
Lummi death
The Lummi Indian Business Council announced via Facebook Wednesday evening that the community has seen its first death related to COVID-19.
“Our deepest heartfelt prayers are with the families that have lost their loved ones today,” the statement read. “In our hearts and minds, we are wrapping our arms around you during this difficult time.”
No other information was provided about the death.
The Lummi Tribal Health Center reported in a Facebook post four new cases Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases in the Lummi community during the pandemic to 192. The Lummi health department reported it had 33 active cases and two current hospitalizations. During the pandemic, seven people have been hospitalized, and the health center has conducted 3,435 tests. Positive tests for the last two weeks are at 15.36%.
The council urged everyone to follow its Phase 1 Shelter in Place Order, which earlier Wednesday was extended until Feb. 23.
“We are pleading with each and every one of you to abide by and promote our Shelter in Place order to ensure the health and safety of everyone that calls Lummi Nation their home,” Wednesday evening post read. “We must do this for our Lummis that were here before us and for our future generations.”
Bellingham school case
Bellingham Public Schools announced its eighth confirmed COVID case on the district’s dashboard, marking the first case that has occurred in a middle school.
The latest case, which was reported this week, occurred at Fairhaven Middle School, and required that select contacts be moved to remote learning with an expected return date of Jan. 25. So far, only one case has been reported at the school.
Bellingham’s first six cases, all of which were in November or December, occurred in elementary schools — two separate incidents at Birchwood and one each at Wade King, Silver Beach, Alderwood and Lowell. Each of those incidents also involved only one case and one class was returned to remote learning, but they have all since returned to in-person classes.
An eighth case was reported the week of Jan. 4 at a non-school-based website. Only one person there was infected and select contacts are expected to return Jan. 21.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last updated Wednesday evening for data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12. 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. 21-Jan. 3 with a rate of 229.5.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people Dec. 27-Jan. 2 of 116.9. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 170.9.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 Dec. 27-Jan. 2 with a rate of 19.9%.
The latest Healthcare System Readiness risk assessment dashboard, updated Wednesday evening for data through Tuesday, shows for the North region, which combines Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan and Island counties:
▪ Occupied beds: 1,079 of the region’s 1,243 adult hospital beds (86.8%) were occupied, missing the state’s goal of 80% or less.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 160 of the region’s 1,243 adult hospital beds (12.9%) were occupied by COVID patients, missing the state’s goal of 10% or less.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 98 of the region’s 138 adult ICU beds (71.0%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was an increase of four beds being used from data Monday.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 23 of the region’s 138 adult ICU beds (16.7%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was a decrease of five beds being used from data Monday.
Shuksan Healthcare update
Shuksan Healthcare Center, the site of Whatcom County’s first major outbreak during the coronavirus pandemic, announced in a Facebook post Tuesday that it held two COVID-19 vaccine clinics and administered vaccines to all staff and patients who consented to receive it.
“Many thanks to Hoagland’s (Hoagland Pharmacy in Bellingham) for partnering with Shuksan to get us all vaccinated and a big thanks to the staff who helped with the vaccine clinic,” the post read. “Additionally we would also like to give a big shout out to our Infection Control RN, Dani, for coordinating this and working endlessly to make sure everything went as smooth as possible.”
The Whatcom County Health Department first announced the outbreak at the nursing home on March 22. Over the next several weeks, 54 people — 31 residents and 23 employees — would test positive the disease, and 10 of those ended up dying.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Thursday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 23.0 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 385,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 92.5 million reported cases and 1.9 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Wednesday afternoon:
▪ 269,201 confirmed cases, an increase of 2,500 from reported cases on Tuesday.
▪ 12,001 probable cases, an increase of 158 from Tuesday’s data.
▪ 16,080 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 12 from data Tuesday, though the state said hospitalization data Wednesday was incomplete because of an interruption in the data reporting process.
▪ 4,128,417 total molecular tests, an increase of 17,770 from Tuesday’s data.
▪ 3,838 deaths related to COVID-19, which was an increase of 49 from Tuesday’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 14, 2021 at 8:08 AM.
