One COVID-related death reported in Whatcom County Thursday, along with 72 new cases
For the third straight day, the number of Whatcom County’s total of COVID-related deaths increased, as the Washington State Department of Health’s dashboard on Thursday, Jan. 28, reported the county had one more death along with 72 new confirmed coronavirus cases.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 5,402 confirmed cases and 64 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 27, meaning 1.2% of all COVID cases in Whatcom County have been linked to a death.
Seventeen additional probable cases — an increase of two from Wednesday’s report — have been reported in Whatcom County during the pandemic, resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
With the new death reported Thursday, the county’s death total has increased by five in the past three days and raised the number reported so far in 2021 to nine.
According to the state’s epidemiologic curves, the person whose death was reported Thursday first tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 20. No other information about the person, including their age or gender, was reported.
Since Jan. 1, Whatcom County’s reported case total has increased by 1,933 — already the largest number in a month the county has seen by 850 cases and more than a third (35.7%) of the county’s total cases during the pandemic. The county’s seven-day average dropped slightly from Wednesday (55.9 cases per day) to 55.7 cases per day in the past week.
The state cautioned that Thursday’s case numbers could include up to 690 duplicates statewide.
The state Department of Health data Thursday also showed Whatcom County has had 270 hospitalizations during the pandemic, an increase of four from Wednesday’s report.
The state reported that a total of 147,016 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — an increase of 1,338 tests from Wednesday’s report. The state cautioned that negative test results from Nov. 21-30 and since Jan. 12 still are incomplete.
Wednesday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25, Whatcom County had administered 11,998 vaccinations — an increase of 202 vaccinations from Monday’s report, which was through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23. An average of 632.14 Whatcom County residents per day received a vaccination dose from Jan. 17-23, down from the 656.6 seven-day average on Monday. Vaccination data is released Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The state estimates that 5.2% of the county (or approximately 11,761 residents) have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 1.23% of the county (or approximately 2,771 residents) are fully vaccinated. The number of vaccines given and people vaccinated may not match, according to the dashboard, because people may be vaccinated in counties other than where they live.
According to the data released Wednesday, Whatcom residents have received approximately 2.2% of the 545,226 total vaccine doses administered in the state — down from 2.4% in Monday’s report.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Herald on Friday it was treating 31 patients for COVID-19, an increase of one from Thursday’s report. 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 Friday that since Sept. 15 WWU has tested 18,431 students, 70 of whom had positive tests — unchanged from Thursday’s report. The college has seen 32 new cases since the school resumed testing following the winter break after seeing 38 cases during the fall quarter.
The Lummi Tribal Health Center reported in a Facebook post Thursday that it had five new confirmed cases, bringing the total number of cases in the Lummi community during the pandemic to 273. The Lummi health department reported it has 53 active cases and four current hospitalizations. During the pandemic, 12 community members have been hospitalized, two have died and the health center has conducted 3,880 tests. Positive tests for the last two weeks are at 17.42%. The Lummi Indian Business Council’s Phase 1 Shelter in Place Order is in place until Feb. 23.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last updated Thursday evening for data as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 27. With a shift to “Healthy Washington” goals to resume business activities, the state is 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 Jan. 5-18 with a rate of 520.6 — a decrease from 524.6 reported Wednesday.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people Jan. 4-10 of 443.2. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 345.6, and Whatcom’s average was an increase from the 408.9 reported Wednesday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 Jan. 4-10 with a rate of 9.0% — a decrease from the 9.7% reported Wednesday.
The latest Healthcare System Readiness risk assessment dashboard, updated Thursday evening for data through Wednesday, shows for the North region, which combines Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan and Island counties:
▪ Occupied beds: 1,050 of the region’s 1,246 adult hospital beds (84.3%) were occupied, missing the state’s goal of 80% or less and an increase of 64 occupied beds from data Wednesday.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 98 of the region’s 1,246 adult hospital beds (7.9%) were occupied by COVID patients, making the state’s goal of 10% or less and an increase of nine occupied beds from data Wednesday.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 101 of the region’s 138 adult ICU beds (73.2%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was an increase of 13 beds being used from data Wednesday.
▪ 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 Wednesday.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Friday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 25.7 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 433,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 101.6 million reported cases and 2.1 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Thursday afternoon:
▪ 293,978 confirmed cases, an increase of 2,277 from reported cases on Wednesday.
▪ 13,831 probable cases, an increase of 243 from Wednesday’s data.
▪ 17,517 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 68 from data Wednesday.
▪ 4,495,463 total molecular tests, an increase of 25,248 from Wednesday’s data.
▪ 4,243 deaths related to COVID-19 were reported, an increase of 32 from Wednesday’s report.
▪ According to Wednesday’s vaccination report, 545,226 vaccinations had been given by Monday, an increase of 45,121 from Monday’s report. The state has averaged administering 26,412 doses of vaccines the past seven days — more than half of the Department of Health’s stated goal of 45,000. The state estimates that 6.04% of the state’s residents have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 1.14% percent of residents are fully vaccinated. Vaccination data is updated Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
▪ According to Wednesday’s vaccination report, 774,425 doses have been delivered to Washington state providers (an increase of 54,650 from Monday’s report) and 125,775 doses have been delivered for the CDC’s long-term care program (an increase of 975 from Monday report), and of the total 900,200 doses delivered, 60.57% have been given.
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 every other 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 the Puget Sound and West Region will move to Phase 2 Monday, Feb. 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.
Phase 2 allows restaurants and indoor fitness centers to open indoors at 25% capacity and allows for sports competitions to resume with limited spectators, and wedding, and funeral ceremonies can increase capacities.
Whatcom County is in the North Region, along with Skagit, San Juan and Island counties, and remains in Phase 1.
