As Whatcom nears anniversary of first COVID, state reports 24 confirmed cases Tuesday
As Whatcom County closed in on the one-year anniversary of the date its first confirmed COVID-19 case was reported, it saw 24 new confirmed cases reported on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard on Tuesday, March 9, and its number of coronavirus-related deaths decreased by one for the second straight day.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 6,858 confirmed cases and 83 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, March 7. An additional 159 probable cases — an increase of one from Monday’s report — have been reported in Whatcom County during the pandemic, resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
That means that 1.2% of Whatcom’s 7,017 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.5% average of total cases.
The COVID-related death that was subtracted from Whatcom County’s total was for a person that first tested positive on Jan. 22, according to the state’s epidemiological curves. Throughout the pandemic, the state has adjusted death totals to reconcile new information about which deaths were related to COVID as it comes in.
The 24 new confirmed cases reported Monday mean Whatcom County has had 3,389 cases — or 49.4% of its pandemic total — reported during the first 68 days of 2021 (an average of 49.8 cases per day). The county’s daily average of newly reported cases the past seven days increased to 27.4 per day.
The state said that up to 200 duplicates statewide may be included in Tuesday’s case counts.
The state Department of Health data Tuesday showed Whatcom County has had 318 hospitalizations during the pandemic, which is unchanged from Monday’s report.
The state also reported that a total of 190,120 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — an increase of 2,461 tests from Monday’s report — meaning 3.61% 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.
Monday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Saturday, March 6, Whatcom County had administered 49,273 vaccinations — an increase of 7,773 vaccinations (up 18.73%) from the Wednesday, March 3, report. Statewide, the number of vaccine doses administered increased 10.73% from the Friday, March 5, report (200,122 doses administered).
An average of 1,656 Whatcom County residents per day received a vaccination dose from Feb. 28 to March 6, up from the 1,158 seven-day average on Friday. Vaccination data is released Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The state estimates that 18.45% of the county (or 41,569 residents) has received its first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 8.93% of the county (or 20,128 residents) is fully vaccinated.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Herald on Wednesday morning it was treating two patients for COVID-19, a decrease of one from Tuesday’s report and the lowest mark the hospital has seen since it had two on Oct. 26.
Western Washington University’s most recent on-campus student COVID testing data show Tuesday that since Sept. 15 WWU has completed 24,840 tests and 77 students have tested positive — an increase of one case from Monday’s report. The college has seen 39 new cases since the school resumed testing following the winter break after seeing 38 cases during the fall quarter.
One-year anniversary
Though the Whatcom County Health Department reported the first confirmed COVID-19 case in the county on March 10, 2020, the state’s epidemiological curves show that person was first tested four days earlier on March 6.
But with Wednesday marking the one year anniversary of when the pandemic became real for us all, here’s a quick break down of the past 365 days of Whatcom County COVID data:
▪ 18.79 — average number of positive cases reported per day in Whatcom County.
▪ 0.23 — average number of COVID-related deaths reported per day in Whatcom County.
▪ 0.89 — average number of COVID-related hospitalizations per day in Whatcom County.
▪ 520.88 — average daily number of reported COVID tests in Whatcom County.
▪ 623.71 — average daily number of vaccines administered to Whatcom County residents in the 79 days since first doses were administered on Dec. 18.
State’s post-vaccination guidance
The Washington State Department of Health on Tuesday announced that it is adopting the guidance released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for those who are fully vaccinated.
The CDC has stated that those who have been fully vaccinated may:
Gather indoors with other fully vaccinated people without wearing masks.
Gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household in private homes without masks unless any of those people have an increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19.
“The CDC is quite clear that vaccinated people should continue to wear masks when they’re in public, avoid crowds and take other precautions when gathering with unvaccinated people who are at high risk of serious illness from COVID-19,” the Department of Health release reads.
The CDC also advises vaccinated people who have been around someone with COVID-19 to isolate themselves for 14 days or get tested if they experience symptoms.
“Regardless of vaccination status, people should still take steps to protect themselves and others while in public settings,” the Department of Health release said. “This includes wearing a mask, staying at least 6 feet from others, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces. In addition, people should still avoid medium or large-sized gatherings and continue to watch for symptoms of COVID-19, especially if they’ve been around someone who is sick.”
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last updated Tuesday evening for data as of 11:59 p.m. Monday. 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. 14-27 with a rate of 230.8 — a decrease from 232.6 reported Monday. Whatcom County has the sixth-highest infection rate in the state according to Tuesday’s data.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people Feb. 13-19 of 297.0. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 209.6, and Whatcom’s average was an increase from the 289.2 reported Monday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 Feb. 13-19 with a rate of 5.0% — an increase from the 4.8% Monday and the 16th-highest rate in the state.
The latest Healthcare System Readiness risk assessment dashboard, updated Tuesday evening for data through Monday, shows for the North region, which combines Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan and Island counties:
▪ Occupied beds: 984 of the region’s 1,245 adult hospital beds (79.0%) were occupied, making the state’s goal of 80% or less but an increase of 24 occupied beds from data Monday.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 40 of the region’s 1,245 adult hospital beds (3.2%) were occupied by COVID patients, making the state’s goal of 10% or less but an increase of six occupied beds from data Monday.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 90 of the region’s 137 adult ICU beds (65.7%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it’s an increase of 10 beds in use from data Monday.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 11 of the region’s 137 adult ICU beds (8.0%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it’s a decrease of two occupied beds from data Monday.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Wednesday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 29.0 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 527,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 117.7 million reported cases and 2.6 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Tuesday evening:
▪ 326,404 confirmed cases, an increase of 473 from reported cases on Monday.
▪ 19,999 probable cases, an increase of 199 from Monday’s data.
▪ 19,692 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 15 from data Monday.
▪ 5,453,036 total molecular tests, an increase of 20,449 from Monday’s data.
▪ 5,077 deaths related to COVID-19 were reported, an increase of 14 from Monday’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:
▪ 2,065,762 vaccinations had been given as of Saturday according to the report, an increase of 200,122 from the previous report (10.73%).
▪ The state has averaged administering 45,380 doses of vaccines the past seven days — over the Department of Health’s stated daily goal of 45,000, and an increase from the average 45,221 reported Friday.
▪ The state estimated Monday that 17.34% of the state’s residents have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 9.95% percent of residents are fully vaccinated.
▪ 2,284290 doses have been delivered to Washington state providers (an increase of 56,320 from Friday’s report) and 186,030 doses have been delivered for the CDC’s long-term care program (unchanged from Friday’s report).
▪ Of the 2,470,320 doses delivered, 83.62% 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.
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 Feb. 26, 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.
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 March 10, 2021 at 8:18 AM.
