Whatcom County sees one related death, 38 new COVID-19 cases Friday, state reports
One new death related to COVID-19 and 38 new confirmed cases in Whatcom County were reported on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard on Friday, Feb. 26.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 6,580 confirmed cases and 83 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 254, meaning 1.2% of all COVID cases in Whatcom County have been linked to a death.
An additional 138 probable cases — an increase of five from Thursday’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 Friday brings Whatcom’s total to 19 reported so far in February.
The 38 new cases reported Friday mean Whatcom County has had 3,116 cases — or 47.3% of its pandemic total — reported during the first 57 days of 2021 (an average of 54.6 cases per day).
The state Department of Health data Friday showed Whatcom County has had 309 hospitalizations during the pandemic, which is an increase of three from Thursday’s report.
The state also reported that a total of 174,960 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — an increase of 366 tests from Thursday’s report — meaning 3.76% 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 Friday it was treating seven patients for COVID-19, up two from Thursday’s report. On Feb. 19 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 Friday that since Sept. 15 WWU has completed 23,361 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.
Vaccination report
Friday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24, Whatcom County had administered 32,287 vaccinations — an increase of 2,508 vaccinations from Wednesday’s report. Vaccination data is released Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The state estimates that 12.28% of the county has received its first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 6.22% of the countyis 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.
Mass vaccination event today
The Lummi Nation announced in a news release that the Lummi Public Health team will host a mass vaccination event from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, at the Silver Reef Casino.
Though the event is not open to the public, the release said all of the nearly 650 Ferndale School District staff members are eligible to be vaccinated by the Lummi health team.
Providing vaccinations to the employees of the school district where the majority of the Lummi community’s children are educated provides an extra layer of protection for the community, demonstrates the Lummi Nation’s high regard for education and brings the community one step closer to getting the community’s children back to in-person learning full time, the release states.
“Since time immemorial, our past and current leaders always think about the future of our people,” Lummi Indian Business Council Chairman Lawrence Solomon said in the release. “We continue that responsibility today by giving our children everything they need to live a healthy life. Which means we must act as good neighbors, work together with our surrounding governments, to take care of our children, and to take care of each other.”
The Lummi Public Health team has already held multiple vaccine events, and according to the release, the community is now through six phases of its distribution plan, and 2,800 vaccines have been provided to Lummi Nation members and their families, caregivers for vulnerable members, all Lummi Indian Business Council employees and Moles Funeral Home staff.
All household members of Lummi Indian Business Council employees also are eligible to received vaccine doses at Saturday’s event, according to the release.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last updated Friday evening for data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday. 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. 3-16 with a rate of 241.0 — a decrease from 267.2 reported Thursday.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people Feb. 2-8 of 352.2. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 266.8, and Whatcom’s average was an increase from the 350.7 reported Thursday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 Feb. 2-8 with a rate of 5.3% — a decrease from the 6.1% reported Thursday.
The latest Healthcare System Readiness risk assessment dashboard, updated Friday evening for data through Thursday, shows for the North region, which combines Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan and Island counties:
▪ Occupied beds: 1,025 of the region’s 1,234 adult hospital beds (83.1%) were occupied, missing the state’s goal of 80% or less and an increase of 14 occupied beds from data Thursday.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 43 of the region’s 1,234 adult hospital beds (3.5%) were occupied by COVID patients, making the state’s goal of 10% or less and a decrease of two occupied beds from data Thursday.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 936 of the region’s 135 adult ICU beds (68.9%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it’s an increase of seven beds being used from data Thursday.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 17 of the region’s 135 adult ICU beds (12.6%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it was an increase of one from data Thursday.
Statewide situation report
The Washington State Department of Health released its latest statewide situation report on Friday, and it showed:
▪ Though COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths are on the decline, some “concerning” signs remain, including the increased detection of the number of cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, which spreads more easily than other strains.
▪ COVID transmission rates decreased in January, but the reproduction number remained close to one in both eastern and western Washington. Estimates show that on Feb. 5 western Washington had a reproductive number of 0.71 — meaning each new case of COVID-19 will likely result in 0.71 new cases — and eastern Washington had a number of 0.88. The goal is to have reproductive numbers well below one for extended periods of time, meaning the disease spread is shrinking.
▪ Case rates have remained high throughout the state, though only nine of the state’s 39 counties had infection rates of more than 200 cases per 100,000 residents in the two-week period before Feb. 11. No counties were higher than 500.
▪ Hospitalizations have declined since early January, but still remain high.
“Despite the very positive signs we’re seeing in the data, we are still in a risky situation and we must all work to maintain and strengthen our prevention measures; however, I remain cautiously optimistic,” Acting State Health Officer Dr. Scott Lindquist said in the release. “As we see cases of the B.1.1.7, B1.351, and other variants of concern increase, it’s more critical than ever to keep limiting gatherings, wearing masks, watching our distance and washing our hands.”
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Friday night:
▪ The U.S. has more than 28.48 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 510,323 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 113.37 million reported cases and 2.51 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Friday night:
▪ 320,317 confirmed cases, an increase of 819 from reported cases on Thursday.
▪ 18,505 probable cases, an increase of 350 from Thursday data.
▪ 19,275 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 41 from data Thursday.
▪ 5,213,424 total molecular tests, an increase of 20,174 from Thursday’s data.
▪ 4,956 deaths related to COVID-19 were reported, an increase of 13 from Thursday’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:
▪ 1,500,485 vaccinations had been given according to Friday’s report, an increase of 89,032.
▪ The state’s report Friday estimated that 13.35% of the state’s residents have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 6.46% percent of residents are fully vaccinated.
▪ 1,699,050 doses have been delivered to Washington state providers (an increase of 56,355 from Wednesday’s report) and 177,840 doses have been delivered for the CDC’s long-term care program (a decrease of 1,170 from Wednesday’s report).
▪ Of the 1,876,890 doses delivered, 79.95% have been given, according to Friday’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.
All regions began in Phase 1 on Jan. 11, and the North region, which includes Whatcom, Island, San Juan and Skagit counties moved to Phase 2 Feb. 14, along with the East, North Central, Northwest and Southwest regions. On Thursday, Inslee said the state would stay in Phase 2, with no areas slipping back to Phase 1. But new metrics for Phase 3 and what activities will be allowed in that phase have not yet been released by Inslee.
On Wednesday, Feb. 24, Inslee paused all movement in the Roadmap to Recovery, and all regions will remain in Phase 2 for the time being. Phase change metrics will not be updated for the time being.
Phase 2 allows 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.
This story was originally published February 27, 2021 at 8:00 AM.
