Whatcom sees a death and 44 new COVID cases, as Bellingham schools report 3 incidents
Whatcom County had its first reported death related to coronavirus in a week and saw 44 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard on Wednesday, Feb. 24.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 6,499 confirmed cases and 82 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, meaning 1.2% of all COVID cases in Whatcom County have been linked to a death.
An additional 130 probable cases — an increase of two from Tuesday’s report — have been reported in Whatcom County during the pandemic, resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
The COVID-related death reported Wednesday brings Whatcom’s total to 18 reported so far in February.
According to the state’s epidemiologic curves, the person whose death was reported Wednesday first tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 12. No other information, such as gender, age or hometown was reported.
The 44 new cases reported Wednesday mean Whatcom County has had 3,030 cases — or 46.6% of its pandemic total — reported during the first 55 days of 2021 (an average of 55.1 cases per day). The county’s daily average of newly reported cases the past week increased to 44.0 per day.
The state Department of Health data Wednesday showed Whatcom County has had 307 hospitalizations during the pandemic, which is unchanged from Tuesday’s report.
The state also reported that a total of 174,292 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — an increase of 820 tests from Tuesday’s report — meaning 3.73% of all reported tests in the county 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 Thursday it was treating five patients for COVID-19, up one from Wednesday’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).
The Lummi Tribal Health Center reported in a Facebook post Wednesday that it had three new confirmed cases, bringing the total number of cases in the Lummi community during the pandemic to 452. The Lummi health department reported it has 46 active cases and no current hospitalizations. During the pandemic, 12 community members have been hospitalized, three have died and the health center has conducted 4,585 tests. Positive tests for the last two weeks are at 19.47%. The Lummi Indian Business Council’s Phase 1 Shelter in Place Order is in place until March 9.
Vaccination update
Wednesday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22, Whatcom County had administered 29,779 vaccinations — an increase of 219 vaccinations from Monday’s report, which was through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. An average of 501 Whatcom County residents per day received a vaccination dose from Feb. 16-22, down from the 569 seven-day average on Monday. Vaccination data is released Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The state estimates that 11.61% of the county (or 26,167 residents) has received its first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 5.53% of the county (or 12,454 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 (38,621 combined first and second doses received) is 22.9% higher (8,842 doses) than the 29,779 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 Wednesday’s data by The Herald, Whatcom residents have received approximately 2.74% of the 1,411,453 total vaccine doses given in the state — down from 2.76% in Monday’s report. But the county has administered only 2.11% of the state’s total — down from 2.14% in Monday’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 of Wednesday’s data 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 report cases
Three new COVID-19 incidents were reported by Bellingham Public Schools on its dashboard on Wednesday. All three incidents involved only one case and were reported this week.
The new cases were at:
▪ Cordata Elementary requiring one class return to remote learning with a scheduled return date of March 8.
▪ Alderwood Elementary requiring one class return to remote learning with a scheduled return date of March 8.
▪ Kulshan Middle School requiring select contacts return to remote learning or quarantine with a scheduled return date of March 9.
The district now has had 23 incidents and 25 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), Alderwood (two cases), Roosevelt, Geneva, Wade King, Silver Beach, Lowell and Cordata elementaries, Fairhaven and Kulshan middle school, Sehome High School and a 23rd 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.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last updated Wednesday evening for data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23. 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 Feb. 1-14 with a rate of 268.1 — a decrease from 279.2 reported Tuesday. Whatcom County has the ninth-highest infection rate in the state according to Wednesday’s data.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people Jan. 31-Feb. 6 of 354.2. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 270.3, and Whatcom’s average was a decrease from the 358.1 reported Tuesday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 Jan. 30-Feb. 5 with a rate of 6.1% — an increase from Tuesday’s 6.0% and the 20th-highest rate in the state.
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: 1,020 of the region’s 1,235 adult hospital beds (82.6%) were occupied, missing the state’s goal of 80% or less and an increase of 55 occupied beds from data Tuesday.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 49 of the region’s 1,235 adult hospital beds (4.0%) were occupied by COVID patients, making the state’s goal of 10% or less and a decrease of six occupied beds from data Tuesday.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 95 of the region’s 135 adult ICU beds (70.4%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it’s an increase of 16 beds being used from data Tuesday.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 16 of the region’s 135 adult ICU beds (11.9%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was a decrease of one bed being used from data Tuesday.
Whatcom libraries update
The Whatcom County Library System will reopen its 10 branches to the public on Monday, March 1, with health and safety requirements that include mask-wearing, keeping 6 feet from others and a maximum occupancy of 25%.
Curbside pickup for library materials will continue, officials said in a news release on Wednesday.
The system’s libraries closed on March 16 because of the pandemic, reopened in a limited way on Oct. 26, and then closed again on Nov. 23 amid increasing COVID-19 cases in Whatcom County.
Health and safety requirements when the branches open will include:
All library visitors older than 2 years old must wear a mask that covers their nose and mouth at all times. This includes people who have received the COVID-19 vaccine.
Staff can’t provide hands-on assistance at computer stations because of physical distancing requirements. Learn more by going online to wcls.org/info or by calling your library branch.
People are being encouraged to keep their visits brief because of the limited occupancy.
The reopening announcement doesn’t include Bellingham public libraries, which are a separate system and remained closed, except for curbside pickup at the downtown location.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Thursday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 28.3 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 506,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 112.6 million reported cases and 2.4 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Wednesday evening:
▪ 318,510 confirmed cases, an increase of 705 from reported cases on Tuesday.
▪ 18,510 probable cases, an increase of 167 from Tuesday’s data.
▪ 19,211 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 51 from data Tuesday.
▪ 5,167,513 total molecular tests, an increase of 21,996 from Tuesday’s data.
▪ 4,912 deaths related to COVID-19 were reported, an increase of 31 from Tuesday’s data. That means 1.5% of all Washington residents who have tested positive for coronavirus have died.
According to the state’s latest vaccination report, which is updated Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays:
▪ 1,411,453 vaccinations had been given according to Wednesday’s report, an increase of 32,135.
▪ The state has averaged administering 25,346 doses of vaccines the past seven days — more than half of the Department of Health’s stated daily goal of 45,000, but a decrease from the average 26,380 reported Monday.
▪ The state’s report Wednesday estimated that 12.90% of the state’s residents have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 5.72% percent of residents are fully vaccinated.
▪ 1,642,695 doses have been delivered to Washington state providers (an increase of 295,325 from Monday’s report) and 179,010 doses have been delivered for the CDC’s long-term care program (an increase of 16,185 from Monday’s report).
▪ Of the 1,821,705 doses delivered, 77.48% have been given., according to Wednesday’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.
This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 9:26 AM.
