Whatcom sees 94 new COVID-19 cases Monday, as Bellingham schools report 4 more incidents
Whatcom County saw 94 new COVID-19 cases reported, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard on Monday, Feb. 22, but no new deaths were reported over the weekend
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 6,434 confirmed cases and 81 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21, meaning 1.2% of all COVID cases in Whatcom County have been linked to a death.
An additional 126 probable cases — an increase of 10 from Saturday’s report — have been reported in Whatcom County during the pandemic, resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
The 94 new cases reported Monday, which represent two day’s worth of data with the state no longer reporting on Sunday, mean Whatcom County has had 2,965 cases — or 46.1% of its pandemic total — reported during the first 53 days of 2021 (an average of 55.9 cases per day). The county’s daily average of newly reported cases the past week increased to 42.3 per day — the highest mark Whatcom has seen since it stood at 58.6 on Feb. 9.
The state Department of Health data Monday showed Whatcom County has had 304 hospitalizations during the pandemic, a decrease of two from Saturday’s report.
The state also reported that a total of 172,425 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — an increase of 1,911 tests from Saturday’s report — meaning 3.73% of all reported tests during the pandemic have come back positive. The state cautioned that negative test results from Nov. 21-30 remain incomplete.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Herald on Tuesday it was treating seven patients for COVID-19, down two from Saturday’s report. On Friday the hospital began allowing non-COVID patients to have one designated visitor during their stay (two for minor and end-of-life patients).
Western Washington University’s most recent on-campus student COVID testing data show Monday that since Sept. 15 WWU has completed 22,213 tests and 74 students have tested positive. The college has seen 36 new cases since the school resumed testing following the winter break after seeing 38 cases during the fall quarter.
The Nooksack Indian Tribe announced in a Facebook post Monday that it has seen two more confirmed cases within its community, bringing the pandemic total to 51. Twelve cases are active, one case is listed as unrecovered while 48 have recovered, according to the post. So far, the Nooksack health team has conducted 2,836 tests during the pandemic, with results for 14 pending. Nooksack instituted a Shelter in Place Order on Jan. 6, mandating that all residents stay in their homes except for essential reasons and restricted them from gathering with people outside their households until further notice.
The Lummi Tribal Health Center reported in a Facebook post Monday that it had nine new confirmed cases over the weekend, bringing the total number of cases in the Lummi community during the pandemic to 445. The Lummi health department reported it has 57 active cases and no current hospitalizations. During the pandemic, 12 community members have been hospitalized, three have died and the health center has conducted 4,534 tests. Positive tests for the last two weeks are at 20.15%. The Lummi Indian Business Council’s Phase 1 Shelter in Place Order is in place until Feb. 23.
Whatcom vaccine update
Monday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, Whatcom County had administered 29,560 vaccinations — an increase of 18,49 vaccinations from Friday’s report, which was through 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17. An average of 569 Whatcom County residents per day received a vaccination dose from Feb. 14-20, down from the 843 seven-day average on Wednesday. Vaccination data is released Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The state estimates that 11.54% of the county (or 25,996 residents) has received its first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 5.34% of the county (or 12,030 residents) is 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.
In fact, Whatcom County residents are having to travel outside the county to receive the vaccine at a higher rate than most of the rest of the state, according to data analysis by The Bellingham Herald, as the total number of vaccine doses received by Whatcom County residents (38,026 combined first and second doses received) is 22.3% higher (8,466 doses) than the 29,560 doses administered in the county. The only counties with higher rates are Douglas, which is next to a state mass vaccination site in Wenatchee, and Franklin, which is next to a state mass vaccination site in Kennewick.
According to analysis of Monday’s data by The Herald, Whatcom residents have received approximately 2.76% of the 1,379,318 total vaccine doses given in the state — down from 2.80% in Friday’s report. But the county has administered only 2.14% of the state’s total — down from 2.18% in Friday’s report — and has administered the 12th-most doses in the state. For comparison, Whatcom County represents 3.0% of the state’s total population and is the state’s ninth-largest county, according to 2019 U.S. Census estimates.
Based on 2019 five-year population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, The Herald’s analysis found Whatcom County has administered 0.13 doses of vaccine per resident, which ranks 32nd in the state. With residents traveling to get the vaccine, Whatcom County has received 0.17 doses of vaccine per resident, which ranks 24th in the state. Both are behind the overall state average of 0.19 doses per resident.
Bellingham schools see cases
Four new COVID-19 incidents were reported by Bellingham Public Schools on its dashboard on Monday, including the district’s second incident involving multiple cases.
Sunnyland Elementary had two cases reported this week that forced a classroom and select contacts to return to remote learning with an expected return date of March 5. The two cases are believed to be connected to the same, non-school exposure setting, district spokesperson Dana Smith told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
Additionally, the district reported individual cases at:
▪ Birchwood Elementary the week of Feb. 16-19 requiring one class return to remote learning with a scheduled return date of March 5.
▪ Northern Heights Elementary the week of Feb. 16-19 requiring one class return to remote learning with a scheduled return date of March 5.
▪ Northern Heights Elementary the week of Feb. 22-25 requiring one class return to remote learning with a scheduled return date of March 8.
The district now has had 20 incidents and 22 reported cases since it began returning to in-person learning. Bellingham’s list of schools that have seen COVID cases includes: Birchwood (three cases), Sunnyland (five cases in three incidents), Carl Cozier (two cases), Northern Heights (two cases), Roosevelt, Geneva, Wade King, Silver Beach, Alderwood and Lowell elementaries, Fairhaven Middle School, Sehome High School and a 17th case at a non-school location.
The district estimates 3,800 students have returned for in-person learning and 900 staff members are working on site.
Weekly case watch
The number of reported COVID-19 cases in the county last week was the lowest the county has seen so far in 2021.
The Washington State Department of Health reported 202 new cases last week in Whatcom County between Feb. 14 and 20, as the county’s pandemic total climbed from 6,138 to 6,340 (a 3.29% growth).
It was the smallest weekly increase Whatcom has seen since the week of Dec. 27 to Jan. 2, when only four days’ worth of data due to the holiday and state data processing issues resulted in 167 reported cases.
The 202 cases were 20.5% fewer than the 254 cases reported a week earlier, but last week’s total still marked the 15th straight week Whatcom has surpassed 100 cases in a week and the 16th week during the pandemic that the county’s case total has reached triple figures in a week.
The state reported a total of 6,163 molecular tests between Feb. 14 and 20, meaning Whatcom’s estimated test positivity was 3.28% last week — an improvement from the 3.52% of the week before.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last updated Monday evening for data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21. 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. 30-Feb. 12 with a rate of 296.5 — a decrease from 324.0 reported Friday. Whatcom County has the seventh-highest infection rate in the state according to Monday’s data.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people Jan. 29-Feb. 4 of 360.0. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 272.0, and Whatcom’s average was a decrease from the 375.0 reported Friday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 Jan. 29-Feb. 4 with a rate of 6.2% — a decrease from Friday’s 6.5% and the 21st-highest rate in the state.
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: 983 of the region’s 1,242 adult hospital beds (79.1%) were occupied, making the state’s goal of 80% or less but a decrease of 28 occupied beds from data Friday.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 62 of the region’s 1,242 adult hospital beds (5.0%) were occupied by COVID patients, making the state’s goal of 10% or less but an increase of four occupied beds from data Friday.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 89 of the region’s 136 adult ICU beds (65.4%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it’s an increase of one bed being used from data Friday.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 16 of the region’s 136 adult ICU beds (11.8%) 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 Friday.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Tuesday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 28.1 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 500,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 111.8 million reported cases and 2.4 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Monday afternoon:
▪ 317,223 confirmed cases, an increase of 1,037 from reported cases on Saturday.
▪ 17,739 probable cases, an increase of 131 from Saturday’s data.
▪ 19,110 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 77 from data Saturday.
▪ 5,120,226 total molecular tests, an increase of 46,148 from Saturday’s data.
▪ 4,857 deaths related to COVID-19 were reported, an increase of 35 from Friday’s data. That means 1.5% of all Washington residents who have tested positive for coronavirus have died. Deaths are not reported on the weekends.
According to the state’s latest vaccination report, which is updated Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays:
▪ 1,379,318 vaccinations had been given according to Monday’s report, an increase of 5,970.
▪ The state has averaged administering 26,380 doses of vaccines the past seven days — more than half of the Department of Health’s stated daily goal of 45,000, and an increase from the average 25,611 reported Friday.
▪ The state’s Monday report estimated that 12.73% of the state’s residents have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 5.46% percent of residents are fully vaccinated.
▪ 1,347,370 doses have been delivered to Washington state providers (an increase of 5,970 from Friday’s report) and 162,825 doses have been delivered for the CDC’s long-term care program (an increase of 3,900 from Friday’s report).
▪ Of the approximately 1,510,195 doses delivered, 91.33% have been given., according to Monday’s report.
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 moved to Phase 2 on Feb. 1.
On Feb. 11, Inslee announced the North region, which includes Whatcom, Island, San Juan and Skagit counties will move Sunday, Feb. 14, to Phase 2 along with the East, North Central, Northwest and Southwest regions. All eight regions have now moved to Phase 2, allowing for live entertainment with ticketed groups of up to 10 people and very limited fitness activities such as appointment-based training in gyms.
Phase 2 also 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.
New metrics for Phase 3 and what activities will be allowed in that phase have not yet been released by Inslee.
