Whatcom sees 24 new confirmed COVID cases Friday, as area schools report new incidents
Whatcom County had 24 new confirmed COVID-19 cases but no deaths reported on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard on Friday, March 12.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 6,932 confirmed cases and 85 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday, March 11. An additional 167 probable cases — unchanged from Thursday’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 7,044 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.5% average of total cases.
The 24 new confirmed cases reported Wednesday mean Whatcom County has had 3,463 cases — only six cases less than half its pandemic total — reported during the first 71 days of 2021 (an average of 48.8 cases per day). The county’s daily average of newly reported cases the past seven days decreased to 23.0 per day.
The state said new cases, deaths and hospitalizations Friday were incomplete due to another interruption in the data reporting process.
The state Department of Health data Friday showed Whatcom County has had 320 hospitalizations during the pandemic, which is an increase of two from Thursday’s report.
The state also reported that a total of 188,274 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — a decrease of 593 tests from Thursday’s report — meaning 3.68% 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 morning it was treating four patients for COVID-19, an increase of two from Thursday’s report.
The Lummi Tribal Health Center reported in a Facebook post Friday that it had two new confirmed cases, bringing the total number of cases in the Lummi community during the pandemic to 490. The Lummi health department reported it has 30 active cases and no current hospitalizations. During the pandemic, 12 community members have been hospitalized, three have died and the health center has conducted 4,832 tests. Positive tests for the last two weeks are at 11.81%. The Lummi Indian Business Council announced Wednesday that its Phase 1 Shelter in Place Order has been extended through March 24.
Whatcom vaccination update
Friday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, March 10, Whatcom County had administered 42,607 vaccinations — an increase of 2,813 vaccinations (up 5.65%) from Wednesday’s report, which was for data through Monday, March 8. Statewide, the number of vaccine doses administered increased 5.96% from Wednesday’s report (127,540 doses administered).
An average of 1,354 Whatcom County residents per day received a vaccination dose from March 4-10, a drop from the 1,651 seven-day average on Wednesday. Vaccination data is released Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The state estimates that 19.72% of the county has received its first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 9.59% of the county is fully vaccinated. Whatcom remained ahead of the statewide average of 19.07% of residents receiving a first dose and behind the statewide average of 10.98% of residents being fully vaccinated.
The state did not update its county-by-county vaccinations table on Friday, nor did it release the number of people who have received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, as it previously stated it would begin doing on Wednesday.
Based on the percentages and using a population of 225,300 for Whatcom County, which is the total the state uses in COVID-related estimates, The Bellingham Herald estimates that 44,429 Whatcom residents have received their first dose — an increase of 2,320 people from The Herald’s estimate of 42,109 on Wednesday. The Herald estimates 21,606 Whatcom residents are fully vaccinated — an increase of 1,239 from The Herald’s estimate of 42,109 on Wednesday.
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, The Herald’s previous analysis of data has shown Whatcom County residents have had to travel to get vaccine doses at a higher rate than most of the rest of the state. Using Friday’s data, The Herald estimates that Whatcom residents have had to travel outside the county for 20.3% of the doses they have received — a decrease from the 21.1% estimated from Wednesday’s data.
According to an analysis of Friday’s data by The Herald, Whatcom residents have received approximately 2.91% of the 2,2,67,958 total vaccine doses given in the state — down from 2.92% in Wednesday’s report. And the county has administered 2.32% of the state’s total — down from 2.33% in Wednesday’s report.
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 Friday’s data found Whatcom County has administered 0.24 doses of vaccine per resident. With residents traveling to get the vaccine, Whatcom County has received 0.30 doses of vaccine per resident. Both numbers are below the statewide average of 0.31 vaccine doses administered per resident.
Bellingham schools report case
One new COVID-19 incident was reported by Bellingham Public Schools on its dashboard on Friday. The incident involved a single confirmed case this week at Geneva Elementary and required one class return to remote learning with an expected return date of March 23.
The district now has had 26 incidents and 28 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 (three cases), Northern Heights (two cases), Alderwood (three cases), Geneva (two cases), Roosevelt, Wade King, Silver Beach, Lowell and Cordata elementaries, Fairhaven and Kulshan middle school, Sehome High School and a case at a non-school location.
The district estimates 7,820 students have returned for in-person learning and 1,200 staff members are working on site.
Lynden schools see cases
The Lynden School District’s COVID-19 dashboard showed five new COVID-19 cases in three incidents in its schools when it was updated on Friday.
The new incidents, according to the dashboard, were all reported this week and included:
▪ Two new cases reported at Fisher Elementary. The incident required one class return to remote learning with an expected return date of March 23.
▪ Two new cases reported at Isom Elementary School. The incident required two classes return to remote learning with an expected return date of March 23.
▪ One new case reported at Bernice Vossbeck Elementary School. The incident required one class return to remote learning with an expected return date of March 23.
Overall, the district’s dashboard reports there have been 43 cases spread across 28 incidents since Lynden students began returning to classes. Eighteen incidents have required some students or whole classes to temporarily return to remote learning.
Long-term care update
Whatcom County had one new COVID-19-related death and nine new cases associated with its long-term care facilities, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s latest COVID-19 Long-Term Care Report.
According to the report, which was released Wednesday, March 10, and reflected data through Monday, March 8, Whatcom County long-term care facilities have had 339 confirmed cases during the pandemic — a 2.7% increase from the 330 in the previous report, which included data through Feb. 22.
The number of COVID-related deaths in long-term care facilities increased to 44 — a 2.3% increase from 43 — according to the state’s data.
The 339 cases mean that long-term care facilities had 5.0% of the 6,834 overall cases reported in Whatcom County on March 8 — down from 5.1% on Feb. 22 — while the 44 related deaths represent 52.4% of the county’s death total (85) on March 8.
Statewide, long-term care facilities have been associated with 18,824 cases (5% of the state’s total cases) and 2,512 related deaths (49% of the state’s death total), the report showed.
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. 17-March 2 with a rate of 239.7 — an increase from 238.3 reported Thursday. Whatcom County has the sixth-highest infection rate in the state according to Friday’s data.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people Feb. 16-22 of 335.7. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 246.4, and Whatcom’s average was an increase from the 226.8 reported Thursday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 Feb. 15-21 with a rate of 5.6% — an increase from the 5.5% Thursday and the 16th-highest rate in the state.
The latest Healthcare System Readiness risk assessment dashboard, updated Thursday evening for data through Wednesday, shows for the North region, which combines Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan and Island counties:
▪ Occupied beds: 1,037 of the region’s 1,259 adult hospital beds (82.4%) were occupied, missing the state’s goal of 80% or less and an increase of 15 occupied beds from data Thursday.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 31 of the region’s 1,259 adult hospital beds (2.5%) were occupied by COVID patients, making the state’s goal of 10% or less but an increase of two occupied beds from data Thursday.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 92 of the region’s 137 adult ICU beds (67.2%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it’s an increase of three beds in use from data Thursday.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 12 of the region’s 137 adult ICU beds (8.8%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this metric, unchanged from data Thursday.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Friday evening:
▪ The U.S. has more than 29.3 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 532,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 119.0 million reported cases and 2.6 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Friday evening:
▪ 328,166 confirmed cases, an increase of 494 from reported cases on Thursday.
▪ 20,350 probable cases, an increase of 138 from Thursday’s data.
▪ 19,788 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 41 from data Thursday.
▪ 5,510,478 total molecular tests, an increase of 18,122 from Thursday’s data.
▪ 5,123 deaths related to COVID-19 were reported, an increase of 16 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:
▪ 2,267,958 vaccinations had been given as of Wednesday according to the report, an increase of 127,540 from the previous report (5.96%).
▪ The state has averaged administering 44,610 doses of vaccines the past seven days — a little under the Department of Health’s stated daily goal of 45,000, and a decrease from the average 46,119 reported Wednesday.
▪ The state estimated Friday that 19.07% of the state’s residents have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 10.98% percent of residents are fully vaccinated.
▪ 2,626,720 doses have been delivered to Washington state providers (an increase of 65,880 from Wednesday’s report) and 186,030 doses have been delivered for the CDC’s long-term care program (unchanged from Wednesday’s report).
▪ Of the 2,812,750 doses delivered, 80.63% have been given, according to Friday’s report.
Washington state actions
On Thursday Inslee announced that the Roadmap to Recovery plan would transition from the regional approach back to a county-by-county evaluation process and that all counties will begin in Phase 3 effective March 22.
In Phase 3, outdoor professional sports can welcome back fans at 25% capacity, according to Inslee’s office, while capacity for indoor activities such as dining at restaurants, attending worship services and shopping at retail stores will double to 50% occupancy.
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 restrictions in Phase 2 will be in some way expanded in Phase 3, according to Inslee’s office. That includes restaurants, gyms, retail, movie theaters, and professional and personal services.
Up to 50% occupancy or 400 people, whichever is lower, will be allowed for indoor activities that were allowed in Phase 2.
Up to 400 people will be allowed for outdoor activities and indoor events with physical distancing and masking in place, according to the governor’s office, as long as that count doesn’t exceed 50 percent capacity. Events at bigger venues will have different guidelines: 25% occupancy or up to 9,000 people.
This story was originally published March 13, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
