Whatcom County sees 24 new COVID-19 cases Saturday, state reports

Twenty-four new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Whatcom County were reported on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard on Saturday, Feb. 27. Deaths are not reported on the weekends.

Overall, Whatcom County has seen 6,604 confirmed cases and 83 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, meaning 1.2% of all COVID cases in Whatcom County have been linked to a death.

An additional 145 probable cases — an increase of seven from Friday’s report — have been reported in Whatcom County during the pandemic, resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.

The 24 new cases reported Saturday mean Whatcom County has had 3,140 cases — or 47.5% of its pandemic total — reported during the first 58 days of 2021 (an average of 54.1 cases per day).

The state Department of Health data Saturday showed Whatcom County has had 312 hospitalizations during the pandemic, which is an increase of three from Friday’s report.

The state also reported that a total of 175,181 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — an increase of 221 tests from Friday’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 Saturday it was treating eight patients for COVID-19, up one from Friday’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).

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 updated data Saturday and now estimates that 13.35% of the county has received its first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 6.46% 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.

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.

Numbers elsewhere

New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Saturday afternoon:

▪ The U.S. has more than 28.55 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 511,994 deaths.

▪ Worldwide, there are more than 113.74 million reported cases and 2.52 million deaths.

Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Saturday afternoon:

▪ 321, 079 confirmed cases, an increase of 762 from reported cases on Friday.

▪ 18,694 probable cases, an increase of 189 from Friday’s data.

▪ 19,319 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 44 from data Friday.

▪ 5,234,432 total molecular tests, an increase of 21,008 from Friday’s data.

▪ 4,956 deaths related to COVID-19 were reported Friday. 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:

▪ 1,500,485 vaccinations had been given according to Friday’s report, an increase of 89,032.

▪ The state updated its vaccination doses reporting Saturday but still 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 28, 2021 at 5:00 AM.