Whatcom sees 35 new confirmed COVID-19 cases Thursday, state reports
Whatcom County saw 35 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Thursday, March 25, but no new deaths were reported.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,178 confirmed cases and 87 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, March 24. An additional 221 probable cases — an increase of five from Wednesday 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 7,399 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.5% average of total cases.
The 35 new confirmed cases reported Wednesday mean Whatcom County has had 3,709 cases — 51.7% of its pandemic total — reported during the first 84 days of 2021 (an average of 44.2 cases per day). The county’s daily average of newly reported cases the past seven days climbed to 17.3 per day.
The state cautioned that up to 140 duplicate cases statewide may be included in Thursday’s report.
The state Department of Health data Thursday showed Whatcom County has had 332 hospitalizations during the pandemic, unchanged from Wednesday’s report, though the state cautioned that Thursday’s hospitalization data was incomplete due to another data processing issue.
The state also reported that a total of 202,553 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — up 3,801 tests from Wednesday’s report — meaning 3.54% 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.
The vaccination report, which was last updated Wednesday, said that as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, March 22, Whatcom County had administered 69,750 vaccinations — up 1.34% (923 vaccinations) from Monday’s report. The state estimates 25.38% of Whatcom County residents (57,176 people) have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine and 13.25% of Whatcom County residents (29,859 people) 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 eight patients for COVID-19, up one from Thursday’s report.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last updated Thursday evening for data as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.
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 March 2-15 with a rate of 170.9 — up from 170.4 reported Wednesday. Whatcom County has the seventh-highest infection rate in the state according to Thursday’s data.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people March 1-7 of 308.5. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 220.7, and Whatcom’s average was up from the 306.5 reported Wednesday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 March 1-7 with a rate of 3.8% — down from the 3.9% reported Wednesday and the 20th-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: 1,029 of the region’s 1,262 adult hospital beds (81.5%) were occupied, missing the state’s goal of 80% or less and unchanged from data Wednesday.
▪ COVID occupied beds: 31 of the region’s 1,262 adult hospital beds (2.5%) were occupied by COVID patients, making the state’s goal of 10% or less and down one occupied bed from Wednesday.
▪ Occupied ICU beds: 95 of the region’s 139 adult ICU beds (68.3%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it’s up six beds 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 up one occupied bed from data Wednesday.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Friday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 30.0 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 546,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 125.6 million reported cases and 2.7 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Thursday evening:
▪ 336,547 confirmed cases, an increase of 941 from reported cases on Wednesday.
▪ 22,059 probable cases, an increase of 166 from Wednesday’s data.
▪ 20,239 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of six from data Tuesday, but the state cautioned that Thursday’s hospitalization data was incomplete due to another data processing issue.
▪ 5,777,929 total molecular tests, up 21,542 from Wednesday’s data.
▪ 5,213 deaths related to COVID-19, up 13 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:
▪ 2,882,195 vaccinations had been given as of Monday, March 22, an increase of 57,258 from the previous report (2.03%).
▪ The state has averaged administering 45,841 doses of vaccines the past seven days — more than the Department of Health’s stated daily goal of 45,000, and down from the average 46,103 reported Monday.
▪ The state estimated that 24.56% of the state’s residents (1,861,169 people) have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 14.12% percent of residents (1,065,262 people) are fully vaccinated.
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.
