Whatcom reaches COVID vaccination milestone and sees 19 new confirmed cases Monday
One-quarter of all Whatcom County residents have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the latest data update on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Monday, March 22, and the county saw its weekly average of new cases dip to its lowest mark in more than four months.
Whatcom County had 19 new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported Monday and no new deaths over the weekend, according to the state’s data.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,099 confirmed cases and 86 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, March 21. An additional 204 probable cases — an increase of six from Saturday’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 7,303 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.5% average of total cases.
The 19 new confirmed cases reported Monday mean Whatcom County has had 3,630 cases — 51.1% of its pandemic total — reported during the first 81 days of 2021 (an average of 44.8 cases per day). The county’s daily average of newly reported cases the past seven days fell to 14.9 per day — the lowest non-holiday mark the county has seen since Nov. 10.
The state Department of Health data Monday showed Whatcom County has had 328 hospitalizations during the pandemic, down one from Saturday’s report.
The state also reported that a total of 197,314 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — down 1,826 tests from Saturday’s report — meaning 3.60% 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 and that there may be up to 160 duplicate positive results statewide.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which is licensed and staffed for 241 beds, reported to The Herald on Tuesday morning it was treating eight patients for COVID-19, up one from Monday’s report.
The Lummi Tribal Health Center reported in a Facebook post Friday that it had one new confirmed case, bringing the total number of cases in the Lummi community during the pandemic to 492. The Lummi health department reported it has four active cases and no current hospitalizations. During the pandemic, 12 community members have been hospitalized, three have died and the health center has conducted 4,895 tests. Positive tests for the last two weeks are at 9.99%. The Lummi Indian Business Council announced March 10 that its Phase 1 Shelter in Place Order has been extended through March 24.
Whatcom vaccination update
Monday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Saturday, March 20, Whatcom County had administered 68,827 vaccinations — up 11.94% (7,341 vaccinations) from Friday’s report, which was for data through Wednesday, March 17. Statewide, the number of vaccine doses administered increased 7.76% from Friday’s report (203,427 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 25.09% of Whatcom County residents have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine — the 13th-highest rate in the state, and ahead of the statewide average of 24.16%. The state reports 56,526 people in Whatcom County have initiated a vaccine — eighth highest in the state and an increase of 5,158 from Friday’s report.
▪ The state estimates that 13.00% of Whatcom County residents are fully vaccinated — the 25th-highest rate in the state, and behind the statewide average of 13.83%. The state reports 29,298 people in Whatcom County have initiated a vaccine — the eighth highest in the state an increase of 3,165 from Friday’s report.
▪ An average of 1,488 Whatcom County residents per day received a vaccination dose from March 14-20— up from the 1,066 seven-day average from Friday’s report.
▪ Whatcom County has administered approximately 2.44% of the 2,824,937 total vaccine doses given in the state — up from 2.35% in Friday’s report. Based on 2019 five-year population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and counting residents fully vaccinated by the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine as having received two doses, Whatcom County has administered 0.31 doses of vaccine per resident — the 32nd highest rate in the state and behind the overall state average of 0.38 doses per person.
Lynden schools see cases
The Lynden School District’s COVID-19 dashboard showed four new COVID-19 cases in four incidents in its schools when it was updated Monday.
The new incidents, according to the dashboard, included:
▪ One new case reported the week of March 8-12 among district support staff. The incident did not require anyone else to quarantine.
▪ One new case reported the week of March 8-12 at Lynden Academy. The incident did not require anyone else to return to remote learning or quarantine.
▪ One new case reported the week of March 15-19 at Bernice Vossbeck Elementary. The incident required one class return to remote learning with an expected return date of April 2.
Additionally, a third case was added to an incident initially from the week of March 8-12 at Fisher Elementary. That incident resulted in two classes going to remote learning with an expected return date of March 23.
Overall, the district’s dashboard reports there have been 57 cases spread across 39 incidents since Lynden students began returning to classes. Eighteen incidents have required some students and/or staff or whole classes to temporarily return to remote learning or quarantine.
Weekly case watch
The Washington State Department of Health reported 117 new cases last week in Whatcom County between March 14 and March 20, as the county’s pandemic total climbed from 6,995 to 7,080 (a 1.68% growth). It is the smallest weekly increase Whatcom County has seen since 84 cases were reported the first week of November (Nov. 1-7).
The 117 cases were 29.1% less than the 165 cases reported a week earlier, but it marked the 19th straight week Whatcom has surpassed 100 cases in a week and the 20th week during the pandemic that the county’s case total has reached triple figures in a week.
The state reported a total of 8,990 molecular tests between March 14 and 20, meaning Whatcom’s estimated test positivity was 1.30% last week — down from the 3.14% of the week before.
For comparison, the number of COVID cases statewide grew by 3.18% last week (4,365 cases), which was up from a 2.39% growth (3,922 cases) the previous week.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last updated Monday evening for data as of 11:59 p.m. Friday. 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. 27-March 12 with a rate of 174.9 — down from 184.6 reported Friday. Whatcom County has the seventh-highest infection rate in the state according to Monday’s data.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people Feb. 26-March 4 of 306.4. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 224.4, but Whatcom’s average was up from the 303.5 reported Friday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 Feb. 26-March 4 with a rate of 4.2% — no change from Friday and the 20th-highest rate in the state.
The latest Healthcare System Readiness risk assessment dashboard, updated Monday evening for data through Friday, shows for the North region, which combines Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan and Island counties:
▪ Occupied beds: 955 of the region’s 1,248 adult hospital beds (76.5%) were occupied, making the state’s goal of 80% or less and down 81 occupied beds from data Friday.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 38 of the region’s 1,248 adult hospital beds (3.0%) were occupied by COVID patients, making the state’s goal of 10% or less and down two occupied beds from Friday.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 96 of the region’s 138 adult ICU beds (69.6%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it’s down one bed in use from data Friday.
▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 17 of the region’s 138 adult ICU beds (12.3%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it’s up three occupied beds from data Friday.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Tuesday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 29.8 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 543,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 123.8 million reported cases and 2.7 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Monday evening:
▪ 334,392 confirmed cases, an increase of 1,052 from reported cases on Saturday.
▪ 21,594 probable cases, an increase of 152 from Saturday’s data.
▪ 20,154 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 72 from data Saturday.
▪ 5,711,583 total molecular tests, an increase of 40,373 from Saturday’s data.
▪ 5,183 deaths related to COVID-19, up nine from Friday’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:
▪ 2,824,937 vaccinations had been given as of Saturday, March 20, an increase of 203,427 from the previous report (7.76%).
▪ The state has averaged administering 46,103 doses of vaccines the past seven days — more than the Department of Health’s stated daily goal of 45,000, and up from the average 43,737 reported Friday.
▪ The state estimated that 24.16% of the state’s residents have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 13.83% percent of residents are fully vaccinated.
▪ 3,141,480 doses have been delivered to Washington state providers (an increase of 111,350 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 3,327,510 doses delivered, 84.90% have been given, according to Monday’s report.
Washington state actions
All counties moved to Phase 3 on Monday. On March 11, Inslee announced that the Roadmap to Recovery plan would transition from the regional approach back to a county-by-county evaluation process.
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.
