Whatcom has 13 new positive COVID-19 cases Saturday

Whatcom County had 13 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard on Saturday, March 19, marking three straight days of case numbers being reliably in the teens. Deaths are not reported on the weekend.

Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,080 confirmed cases and 86 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Friday, March 19. An additional 198 probable cases — an increase of four from Friday’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 7,278 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.5% average of total cases.

The state Department of Health data Saturday showed Whatcom County has had 329 hospitalizations during the pandemic, which is up one from Friday’s report.

The state also reported that a total of 199,140 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — up 5,500 tests from Friday’s report — meaning 3.55% 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 morning it was treating six patients for COVID-19, down one from the seven it reported Friday.

Friday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, March 17, Whatcom County had administered 61,486 vaccinations — an increase of 2,909 vaccinations (up 4.96%) from Wednesday’s report, which was for data through Monday, March 15.

▪ The state estimates 22.80% of Whatcom County residents have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine, ahead of the statewide average of 22.29%.

▪ The state estimates that 11.60% of Whatcom County residents are fully vaccinated, behind the statewide average of 12.94%.

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. 24-March 9 with a rate of 184.6 — drown from 188.1 reported Thursday.

▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people Feb. 22-March 1 of 303.5. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 228.9, and Whatcom’s average was down from the 309.3 reported Thursday.

▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 Feb. 23-March 1 with a rate of 4.2% — no change from 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: 1,036 of the region’s 1,251 adult hospital beds (82.8%) were occupied, missing the state’s goal of 80% or less and up 13 occupied beds from data Thursday.

▪ COVID occupied beds: 40 of the region’s 1,251 adult hospital beds (3.2%) were occupied by COVID patients, making the state’s goal of 10% or less and unchanged from occupied beds on Thursday.

▪ Occupied ICU beds: 97 of the region’s 139 adult ICU beds (69.8%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it’s up four beds in use from data Thursday.

▪ 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 Thursday.

Numbers elsewhere

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

▪ The U.S. has more than 29.78 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 541,907 deaths.

▪ Worldwide, there are more than 122.63 million reported cases and 2.7 million deaths.

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

▪ 333,340 confirmed cases, an increase of 791 from reported cases on Friday.

▪ 21,442 probable cases, an increase of 199 from Friday’s data.

▪ 20,082 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 41 from data Friday.

▪ 5,671,210 total molecular tests, an increase of 19,840 from Friday’s data.

▪ 5,174 deaths related to COVID-19. 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:

▪ 2,621,510 vaccinations had been given as of Wednesday, March 17, an increase of 104,004 from the previous report (4.13%).

▪ The state has averaged administering 43,737 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 44,165 reported Wednesday.

▪ The state estimated that 22.29% of the state’s residents have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 12.94% percent of residents are fully vaccinated.

▪ 3,030,130 doses have been delivered to Washington state providers (an increase of 50,810 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 3,216,160 doses delivered, 81.51% 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 Monday, 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.