Whatcom sees 26 new confirmed COVID cases Saturday

Whatcom County saw 26 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Saturday, March 27. The state does not report deaths on weekends.

Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,221 confirmed cases and 87 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Friday, March 26. An additional 226 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 7,447 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.5% average of total cases.

The 26 new confirmed cases reported Friday mean Whatcom County has had 3,749 cases — 51.9% of its pandemic total — reported during the first 86 days of 2021 (an average of 43.6 cases per day). The county’s daily average of newly reported cases the past seven days increased to 20.1 per day.

The state Department of Health data Saturday showed Whatcom County has had 336 hospitalizations during the pandemic, up three from Friday’s report.

The state also reported that a total of 203,300 molecular tests have been administered in Whatcom County during the pandemic — up 2,106 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 10 patients for COVID-19, up two from Friday’s report.

The Nooksack Indian Tribe announced in a Facebook post Friday that it has seen 14 more confirmed case within its community, bringing the pandemic total to 77. Fourteen cases are active, one case is listed as unrecovered while 62 have recovered, according to the post. So far, the Nooksack health team has conducted 3,088 tests during the pandemic, with results for 16 pending. Nooksack instituted a Shelter in Place Order on Jan. 6, mandating that all residents stay in their homes except for essential reasons and restricted them from gathering with people outside their households until further notice.

Whatcom vaccination update

Friday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, March 24, Whatcom County had administered 74,206 vaccinations — up 6.384% (4,456 vaccinations) from Wednesday’s report, which was for data through Monday.

▪ The state estimates 26.38% of Whatcom County residents have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine — ahead of the statewide average of 25.74%. The state reports 14.64% in Whatcom County are fully vaccinated, behind the statewide rate of 14.84%..

▪ Mondays and Wednesdays: 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

▪ No testing will be available on Saturdays, Sundays or Thursdays.

Whatcom’s risk assessment

The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last updated Friday 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 3-16 with a rate of 167.3 — down from 170.9 reported Thursday.

▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people March 2-8 of 305.2. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 219.8, but Whatcom’s average was down from the 308.5 reported Thursday.

▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 March 2-8 with a rate of 3.8% — no change from the 3.8% reported 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: 1,030 of the region’s 1,263 adult hospital beds (81.6%) were occupied, missing the state’s goal of 80% or less and up one from data Thursday.

▪ COVID occupied beds: 32 of the region’s 1,263 adult hospital beds (2.5%) were occupied by COVID patients, making the state’s goal of 10% or less but up one occupied bed from Thursday.

▪ Occupied ICU beds: 94 of the region’s 139 adult ICU beds (67.6%) were occupied. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it’s down one bed in use from data Thursday.

▪ COVID occupied ICU beds: 11 of the region’s 139 adult ICU beds (7.9%) were occupied by COVID patients. The state does not have a goal for this metric, but it’s down three occupied beds from data Thursday.

▪ 408,730 doses the week of March 28: 238,050 first doses and 170,680 second doses, including 221,130 doses of Pfizer, 144,800 doses of Moderna and 42,800 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

▪ 368,270 doses the week of April 11: 173,020 first doses and 195,250 second doses, including 223,470 doses of Pfizer and 144,800 doses of Moderna.

Numbers elsewhere

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

▪ The U.S. has more than 30.21 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 548,813 deaths.

▪ Worldwide, there are more than 126.49 million reported cases and 2.77 million deaths.

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

▪ 338,658 confirmed cases, an increase of 1,183 from reported cases on Friday.

▪ 22,457 probable cases, an increase of 266 from Friday’s data.

▪ 20,363 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 77 from data Friday.

▪ 5,825,989 total molecular tests, up 23,657 from Friday’s data.

▪ 5,218 deaths related to COVID-19 were reported Friday. That means 1.5% of all Washington residents who have tested positive for coronavirus have died. New deaths are not reported on the weekends.

Statewide, according to the state’s latest vaccination report, which is updated Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays:

▪ 3,012,719 vaccinations had been given as of Wednesday, March 24, an increase of 130,524 from the previous report (4.52%).

▪ The state has averaged administering 48,455 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 45,841 reported Wednesday.

▪ The state estimated that 25.74% of the state’s residents have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 14.84% percent of residents 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.

This story was originally published March 28, 2021 at 5:00 AM.