Whatcom sees 11 new B.1.1.7 variant cases last week, and 19 new COVID cases Thursday
Whatcom County had 19 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard on Thursday, March 18, but no new related deaths.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,057 confirmed cases and 86 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, March 17. An additional 189 probable cases — an increase of seven from Wednesday’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 7,246 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 state Department of Health data Wednesday showed Whatcom County has had 326 hospitalizations during the pandemic, which is up two from Wednesday’s report.
The state also reported that a total of 195,055 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — up 2,986 tests from Wednesday’s report — meaning 3.14% 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.
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). The state estimates that 21.91% of Whatcom residents have initiated vaccination and 10.87% are fully vaccinated.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Herald on Friday morning it was treating seven patients for COVID-19, up two from the five it reported Thursday.
Western Washington University’s most recent on-campus student COVID testing data show Thursday that since Sept. 15 WWU has completed 26,468 tests and 80 students have tested positive — up two from Wednesday’s report. The college has seen 42 new cases since the school resumed testing following the winter break after seeing 38 cases during the fall quarter.
COVID variant update
Whatcom County saw 11 new confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-19 — also known as the U.K. variant — last week, according to the latest SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing and Variants report by the Washington State Department of Health released Thursday.
Whatcom County has had 25 B.1.1.7 variant cases reported so far, which is second in the state behind only King County, which has 93 confirmed cases. Whatcom County has not had any confirmed cases of the B.1.351 variant (also known as the South Africa variant) or the P.1 variant (also known as the Brazil variant), according to the report.
Overall, the state has seen 146 B.1.1.7 cases (an increase of 47 from last week’s report) and eight B.1.351 cases (up five last week’s report).
The state also saw its second confirmed case of the P.1 variant in King County last week, according to the report. King County also has all six of the state’s B.1.351 variant cases, with the other two found in Yakima County.
There are eight B.1.1.7 cases in Pierce County, seven in Snohomish, three in Island and Clark and two in while Benton, while Franklin, Grays Harbor, Skagit and Yakima each have one B.1.1.7 case.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last updated Thursday evening for data as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday. 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. 23-March 8 with a rate of 188.2 — down from 189.1 reported Wednesday.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people Feb. 22-28 of 309.3. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 233.7, and Whatcom’s average was down from the 309.6 reported Wednesday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 Feb. 22-28 with a rate of 4.2% — no change from Wednesday.
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: 1,023 of the region’s 1,254 adult hospital beds (81.6%) were occupied, missing the state’s goal of 80% or less and up 22 occupied beds from data Wednesday.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 40 of the region’s 1,254 adult hospital beds (3.2%) were occupied by COVID patients, making the state’s goal of 10% or less but up two occupied beds from data Wednesday.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 93 of the region’s 139 adult ICU beds (66.9%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it’s up one bed in use from data Wednesday.
▪ 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 the same from data Wednesday.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Friday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 29.67 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 539,868 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 122.0 million reported cases and 2.69 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Thursday evening:
▪ 331,820 confirmed cases, an increase of 711 from reported cases on Wednesday.
▪ 21,087 probable cases, an increase of 184 from Wednesday’s data.
▪ 19,999 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 42 from data Wednesday.
▪ 5,630,802 total molecular tests, an increase of 18,683 from Wednesday’s data.
▪ 5,168 deaths related to COVID-19, an increase of 12 from Wednesday’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.
This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 10:06 AM.
