As state begins releasing vaccination data, Whatcom sees 9 new COVID cases in 2 days
On the day the Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 dashboard began reporting the number of vaccinations administered at the state and county level, Whatcom County saw only nine new cases reported over two days on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
Whatcom’s death total also remained unchanged over the holiday weekend, as the state did not report new data Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The state last updated data Sunday, Jan. 17, after another data processing error prevented updated numbers being released Saturday.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 4,880 confirmed cases and 56 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, Jan. 18. That means that 1.1% of the Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died.
Fourteen additional probable cases — no change from Friday’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.
With the exception of Nov. 18 and Jan. 12, when the state actually reduced Whatcom’s total number of cases by two and 18 cases, respectively, the nine cases reported Tuesday were the least reported by the state since an increase of two cases was reported Nov. 8.
Vaccination data release
The Department of Health began releasing vaccine data on the dashboard Tuesday, showing statewide and county-level data on the number of people who have received a COVID-19 vaccine.
All healthcare providers in the state are required to report when they administer a COVID-19 vaccine, according to a Department of Health release on the new data, and most vaccination data should appear on the dashboard within seven days. Data will be updated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
“This partnership and expanded data sharing is what we mean when we talk about DOH prioritizing innovation and engagement,” Secretary of Health Dr. Umair A. Shah said in the release. “Ensuring access to this type of data is an important part of our commitment to equity, innovation and engagement. The dashboard will provide a critical window for the public to understand what’s happening in our vaccine response.”
State-level data will show the number of doses delivered to providers and the number of doses delivered through the federal long-term care program. The percentage of people who have received either a first or second dose also will be available at the county and state levels.
“Even though the first month has been challenging — with launching vaccine distribution over the holidays and reporting delays — the number of vaccines given is growing daily,” one of the state’s vaccine roll-out leaders Michele Roberts said in the release. “And there’s more good news: we’ve seen provider enrollment jump by the hundreds. That means as we get more vaccine, there will be places for people to get their vaccine.”
The first day of data shows that as of data Saturday, Jan. 16, a total of 5,944 vaccine doses had been given in Whatcom County with an average of 217 doses given per day over the past seven days. The state estimates that approximately 2.75% of Whatcom County residents (or approximately 6,196 residents) have received their first vaccine dose and 0.59% (or approximately 1,329 residents) are fully vaccinated.
Statewide, 294,386 doses had been given as of Saturday with an average of 14,064 doses per day over the past week. The state estimates that 3.29% of Washington state residents have received their first vaccine dose and 0.58% are fully vaccinated.
The state also reports that 607,350 doses have been delivered to Washington healthcare providers and 88,725 to the CDC’s long-term care vaccination program and that 42.29% of the delivered doses received have been given so far.
Other data
The state Department of Health data Tuesday also showed Whatcom County has had 236 hospitalizations during the pandemic, unchanged from Sunday’s report, though the state said hospitalization data was incomplete due to an interruption in the data reporting process. The state said it expects to make a full update Wednesday.
The state also reported that a total of 137,821 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — an increase of 630 tests from Sunday’s report. The state cautioned that negative test results Nov. 21-30 and since Jan. 2 still are incomplete.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Bellingham Herald on Wednesday it was treating 26 patients daily for COVID-19, an increase of one from Tuesday’s report and eight from weekend reports but still four fewer than the record 30 it reported Jan. 13. St. Joseph has banned visitors at the medical center until further notice while COVID-19 remains a public health threat.
Western Washington University’s most recent on-campus student COVID testing data show Wednesday that, since Sept. 15, WWU has tested 16,781 students, 55 of whom had positive tests. The college has now seen 17 new cases since the school resumed testing following the winter break.
The Nooksack Indian Tribe announced in a Facebook post Tuesday that it has seen one more confirmed case within its community, bringing the pandemic total to 40. Eight cases are active, while 31 have recovered, according to the post. So far, the Nooksack health team has conducted 2,605 tests during the pandemic, with results for 16 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.
Weekly case watch
Whatcom County topped 500 cases in a single week for the second straight week last week, in spite of only six days’ worth of data being reported last week.
The Washington State Department of Health reported 531 new cases last week in Whatcom County between Jan. 10 and 16, as the county’s pandemic total climbed from 4,122 to 4,653 (an 12.9% growth). The actually number of new cases was likely higher, as the state did not release data on Saturday due to another data processing issue.
Whatcom’s reported caseload saw triple-digit increases on three of the five days when data was reported and a decrease of 18 cases on Tuesday, Jan. 12, when the state reconciled some previously reported data.
The five-day total of 531 cases reported last week was a decrease from the 653 reported a week earlier, but last week’s total marked the 10th straight week Whatcom has surpassed 100 cases in a week and the 11th 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. 30 is incomplete, it reported a total of 4,060 tests between Jan. 10 and 16, meaning Whatcom’s test positivity was approximately 13.1% last week — an improvement from the 17.4% of the week before.
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. 18. 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. 27-Jan. 9 with a rate of 418.6.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people Jan. 2-8 of 327.9. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 273.3.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 Jan. 2-8 with a rate of 6.2%.
The latest Healthcare System Readiness risk assessment dashboard, updated Tuesday evening for data through Monday, shows for the North region, which combines Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan and Island counties:
▪ Occupied beds: 1,001 of the region’s 1,183 adult hospital beds (84.6%) were occupied, missing the state’s goal of 80% or less.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 166 of the region’s 1,183 adult hospital beds (14.0%) were occupied by COVID patients, missing the state’s goal of 10% or less.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 88 of the region’s 136 adult ICU beds (64.7%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was a decrease of 16 beds being used from data Friday.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 28 of the region’s 136 adult ICU beds (20.6%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was a decrease of two beds being used from data Friday.
Lummi postpones school reopening
Lummi Nation School’s planned reopening for Feb. 4 has been postponed until further notice as the Lummi community and the rest of Whatcom County wrestles with surging COVID-19 caseloads.
The move was announced in a Facebook post Tuesday, as the distance learning format will continue for learning pods, kindergarten and first grade students.
The causes of the postponement, according to the post, including Lummi Nation’s extension of the Phase 1 Shelter in Place order to Feb. 23, a reduced number of students signing up to return, a spike in COVID cases and teachers not yet being vaccinated.
“Over the next two weeks we will continue to work towards reopening and keep you updated,” the post read.
The Lummi Tribal Health Center reported in a Facebook post 23 new cases Saturday and five more Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases in the Lummi community during the pandemic to 227. The Lummi health department reported it had 49 active cases and one current hospitalization. During the pandemic, seven community members have been hospitalized, one has died and the health center has conducted 3,709 tests. Positive tests for the last two weeks are at 13.29%.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Sunday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 24.2 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 401,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 96.3 million reported cases and 2.0 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Tuesday afternoon:
▪ 279,421 confirmed cases, an increase of 2,017 from reported cases on Sunday.
▪ 12,568 probable cases, an increase of 33 from Sunday’s data.
▪ 16,642coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 84 from data Sunday, though the state said hospitalization data was incompleted Tuesday due to an interruption in the data reporting process.
▪ 4,265,548 total molecular tests, an increase of 31,790 from Sunday’s data.
▪ 3,940 deaths related to COVID-19 were reported, which was an increase of 37 from Friday’s data, meaning that 1.3% of the state residents who have tested positive for COVID during the pandemic have died. Deaths are not released on weekends.
Washington state actions
In the “Healthy Washington” plan introduced by Gov. Jay Inslee 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 Jan. 11 and continue into a second week in Phase 1. 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 20, 2021 at 8:00 AM.
