As Whatcom’s vaccination rates dip, county sees one death and 23 new COVID cases
Whatcom County saw its first death related to COVID-19 reported in a week by the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard on Wednesday, March 17, along with 23 new confirmed cases.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,038 confirmed cases and 86 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, March 16. An additional 182 probable cases — an increase of four from Tuesday’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 7,220 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 reported Wednesday was the 31st Whatcom has had reported in 2021.
The person whose death was reported Wednesday first tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 26, according to the state’s epidemiological curves, but no other information about the person, such as gender, age or hometown was reported. They represent the 19th death of a person first diagnosed with COVID in January, when the county saw a post-holiday spike in cases.
The 23 new confirmed cases reported Monday mean Whatcom County has had 3,569 cases — 50.7% of its pandemic total — reported during the first 74 days of 2021 (an average of 48.2 cases per day). The county’s daily average of newly reported cases the past seven days remained at 22.4 per day.
“Over the last week in Whatcom County, 14-day average daily case rates have remained steady at just under 50 new cases per day,” Whatcom County Health Department Director Erika Lautenbach said during on online media briefing Wednesday. “They’ve dropped slowly and slightly below that 200 cases per 100,000, but they remain higher than any other county in our region, and they’ve also plateaued at a higher rate than we’ve seen in the past.
“We know that for continued forward momentum and movement in our Roadmap to Recovery, we need to see those case rates continue to drop. While they have plateaued and we have gotten through that really challenging spike from January, we really need to see those case rates continue to drop.”
Whatcom County, and all counties in the state, will advance to Phase 3 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Healthy Washington Roadmap to Recovery plan on Monday, March 22. To stay in Phase 3, counties Whatcom’s size must maintain two-week infection rates of less than 200 new cases per 100,000 residents, or they will return to Phase 2.
Lautenbach said the fact that Whatcom’s case rates have plateaued at a higher level after its January spike than what it saw before January is not surprising.
“What we’ve seen when we’ve looked at the data statewide is with each peak, the returning baseline is higher than the previous baseline,” she said. “We’re at a point, as you’ll remember, where 200 per 100,000 is still higher than any of our previous peaks before the January peak. We just keep resetting the baseline at a higher level. That seems trued out, not just in Whatcom County, but statewide. There is a lot of evidence of national trends that show that as well.”
Whatcom vaccination update
Wednesday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, March 15, Whatcom County had administered 58,577 vaccinations — an increase of 1,290 vaccinations (up 2.25%) from Monday’s report, which was for data through Saturday, March 13. Statewide, the number of vaccine doses administered increased 3.08% from Monday’s report (75,300 doses administered).
Vaccination data is updated on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons. Here is what data analysis of the latest numbers by The Bellingham Herald showed:
▪ Whatcom County — the ninth most populated county in Washington state, according to 2019 U.S. Census estimates — has administered the 10th most doses of the 39 counties in the state.
▪ The state estimates 21.91% of Whatcom County residents have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine — the 18th-highest rate in the state, and ahead of the statewide average of 21.41%. Based on the county’s population of 225,300 people used by the state, The Herald estimates 49,363 people have initiated a vaccine — an increase of 1,059 from Monday’s report.
▪ The state estimates that 10.87% of Whatcom County residents are fully vaccinated — the 28th-highest rate in the state, and behind the statewide average of 12.37%. Based on the county’s population of 225,300 people used by the state, The Herald estimates 24,490 people have initiated a vaccine — an increase of 856 from Monday’s report.
▪ An average of 1,089 Whatcom County residents per day received a vaccination dose from March 9-15— up from the 1,015 seven-day average from Monday’s report.
▪ Whatcom County has administered approximately 2.33% of the 2,517,506 total vaccine doses given in the state — down from 2.35% in Monday’s report. Based on 2019 five-year population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Whatcom County has administered 0.27 doses of vaccine per resident — the 32nd highest rate in the state and behind the overall state average of 0.34 doses per person.
▪ With residents traveling elsewhere for vaccines, Whatcom residents have received approximately 2.93% of the vaccine doses given in the state — down from 2.95% from Monday’s report. Whatcom County residents have traveled outside the county to receive 19.1% of the vaccine doses they’ve received (approximately 13,808 doses) — the fourth-highest rate in the state. Including those who have traveled elsewhere, Whatcom County residents have received 0.33 doses of vaccine per resident, which ranks 22nd in the state.
More Whatcom COVID numbers
The state Department of Health data Wednesday showed Whatcom County has had 324 hospitalizations during the pandemic, which is up one from Tuesday’s report.
The state also reported that a total of 192,069 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — up 646 tests from Tuesday’s report — meaning 3.66% 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 morning it was treating five patients for COVID-19, unchanged from Wednesday’s report.
Western Washington University’s most recent on-campus student COVID testing data show Monday that since Sept. 15 WWU has completed 26,151 tests and 78 students have tested positive — unchanged from Wednesday’s report. The college has seen 40 new cases since the school resumed testing following the winter break after seeing 38 cases during the fall quarter.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last updated Wednesday evening for data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. 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. 22-March 7 with a rate of 189.1 — down from 203.7 reported Tuesday. Whatcom County has the eighth-highest infection rate in the state according to Wednesday’s data.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people Feb. 21-27 of 309.6. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 234.7, and Whatcom’s average was down from the 311.5 reported Tuesday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 Feb. 21-27 with a rate of 4.2% — down from the 4.8% Tuesday 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: 1,001 of the region’s 1,253 adult hospital beds (79.9%) were occupied, making the state’s goal of 80% or less but up 78 occupied beds from data Tuesday.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 38 of the region’s 1,253 adult hospital beds (3.0%) were occupied by COVID patients, making the state’s goal of 10% or less but up two occupied beds from data Tuesday.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 92 of the region’s 139 adult ICU beds (66.2%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it’s up two beds in use from data Tuesday.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 14 of the region’s 139 adult ICU beds (10.1%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it’s down one occupied bed from data Tuesday.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Thursday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 29.6 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 538,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 121.3 million reported cases and 2.6 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Wednesday afternoon:
▪ 331,109 confirmed cases, an increase of 742 from reported cases on Tuesday.
▪ 20,903 probable cases, an increase of 161 from Tuesday’s data.
▪ 19,957 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 47 from data Tuesday.
▪ 5,612,119 total molecular tests, an increase of 19,274 from Tuesday’s data.
▪ 5,156 deaths related to COVID-19, an increase of seven from Tuesday’s data. That means 1.5% of all Washington residents who have tested positive for coronavirus have died.
Statewide, according to the state’s latest vaccination report, which is updated Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays:
▪ 2,517,506 vaccinations had been given as of Monday, March 15, an increase of 75,300 from the previous report (3.08%).
▪ The state has averaged administering 44,165 doses of vaccines the past seven days — a little under the Department of Health’s stated daily goal of 45,000, and up from the average 42,551 reported Monday.
▪ The state estimated that 21.41% of the state’s residents have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 12.37% percent of residents are fully vaccinated.
▪ 2,979,320 doses have been delivered to Washington state providers (an increase of 258,280 from Monday’s report) and 186,030 doses have been delivered for the CDC’s long-term care program (unchanged from Monday’s report).
▪ Of the 3,165,350 doses delivered, 79.53% have been given, according to Wednesday’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.
