Whatcom sees 35 new COVID cases Monday, as county schools report four new incidents
Whatcom County saw 35 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Monday, March 29, and no related deaths were reported over the weekend.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,256 confirmed cases and 87 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, March 28. An additional 227 probable cases — up one 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 7,483 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.4% average of total cases.
The county’s daily average of newly reported cases the past seven days increased to 22.4 per day.
Whatcom County is currently in Phase 3 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Healthy Washington — Roadmap to Reovery plan. To remain in Phase 3, Whatcom must make two goals set by the state on the next data evaluation data scheduled for April 12:
▪ The county must have fewer than 200 new cases per 100,000 residents in a two-week period. Whatcom’s infection rate was 142.0 between March 6 and 19, according to the latest update of state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard on Monday, meaning Whatcom is currently making the first goal.
▪ The county must also have fewer than five new COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents per seven days. Whatcom had one COVID-related hospitalization (or 0.44 per 100,000 residents) from March 4-10 — the most recent complete data on the state’s epidemiological curves — meaning Whatcom is currently making the second goal, according to analysis by The Bellingham Herald.
Whatcom vaccination update
Monday vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Saturday, March 22, Whatcom County had administered 81,589 vaccinations — up 9.95% (7,383 vaccinations) from Friday’s report, which was for data through Wednesday. That is ahead of the state’s 7.74% increase in doses administered for the same period.
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 with approximately 3% of the state’s total population, according to 2019 U.S. Census estimates — has administered the 10th most doses of the 39 counties in the state.
▪ The state estimates 27.94% of Whatcom County residents have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine — 15th-highest in the state, and ahead of the statewide average of 27.40%. The state reports 62,954 people in Whatcom County have initiated vaccination — the eighth highest in the state and an increase of 3,517 from Friday’s report.
▪ The state estimates that 16.85% of Whatcom County residents are fully vaccinated — 18th-highest in the state, and ahead of the statewide average of 16.30%. The state reports 37,969 people in Whatcom County are fully vaccinated — eighth highest in the state and an increase of 4,983 from Friday’s report.
▪ Based on 2019 five-year population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Whatcom County has administered 0.37 doses of vaccine per resident — 10th lowest in the state and behind the overall state average of 0.44 doses per person.
Other Whatcom data
▪ 334 total hospitalizations during the pandemic according to the state dashboard, down two from Saturday’s report.
▪ 204,203 molecular tests administered, according to the state dashboard, up 903 from Saturday’s report.
▪ Four patients were being treated for COVID-19 at St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham on Tuesday, according to the hospital, down one from Monday.
▪ 88 Western Washington University students have tested positive for COVID-19, including 50 from the winter quarter, according to the school’s dashboard, up one from Friday’s data.
▪ 78 members of the Nooksack Indian Tribe community have tested positive during the pandemic, according to a Facebook post Monday, up one from Friday’s post. Fourteen cases are active, according to the post.
Bellingham schools report case
One new COVID-19 incident was reported by Bellingham Public Schools on its dashboard on Monday. The incident involved one confirmed case at Sunnyland Elementary and required one class return to remote learning with an expected return date of April 12.
The district now has had 29 incidents and 32 reported cases since it began returning to in-person learning.
The district estimates 9,190 students have returned for in-person learning and 1,600 staff members are working on site.
Lynden schools see cases
The Lynden School District’s COVID-19 dashboard showed six new COVID-19 cases in three incidents in its schools when it was updated Monday.
The new incidents, according to the dashboard, included:
▪ Four new cases reported the week of March 22-26 at Lynden High School. The incident required some individuals to quarantine or return to remote learning.
▪ One new case reported the week of March 22-26 at Lynden Middle School. The incident did not require anyone else to return to remote learning or quarantine.
▪ One new case reported the week of March 22-26 at Bernice Vossbeck Elementary. The incident did not require anyone else to return to remote learning or quarantine.
Overall, the district’s dashboard reports there have been 63 cases spread across 42 incidents since Lynden students began returning to classes. Nineteen 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 141 new cases last week in Whatcom County between March 21 and March 27, as the county’s pandemic total climbed from 7,080 to 7,221 (a 1.99% growth).
The 141 cases were 20.5% more than the 117 cases reported a week earlier, and it marked the 20th straight week Whatcom has surpassed 100 cases in a week and the 21st week during the pandemic that the county’s case total has reached triple figures in a week.
The state reported a total of 4,160 molecular tests between March 14 and 20, meaning Whatcom’s estimated test positivity was 3.39% last week — up from the 1.30% of the week before.
For comparison, the number of COVID cases statewide grew by 1.6% last week (5,318 cases) last week.
Dirty Dan’s COVID closing
The Dirty Dan Harris Steakhouse in Fairhaven announced in an Instagram post Monday that it will be closed until further notice due to a potential COVID-19 exposure.
“We are taking all necessary precautions and safety measures to ensure that none of our staff or patrons are infected,” the post read.
The post encouraged anybody who dined at the restaurant to take precautions to prevent possibly infecting others.
“We will reopen after confirmation that all test results for the coronavirus came back negative,” the post read.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last updated Monday evening for data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday. The dashboard does not update on the weekends. It showed:
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents March 6-19 with a rate of 142.0 — down from 167.3 reported Friday and the 12th-highest infection rate in the state.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people March 5-11 of 292. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 224.2, but Whatcom’s average was down from the 305.2 reported Friday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 March 5-11 with a rate of 3.8% — down from the 3.8% reported Friday and the 19th-highest rate in the state.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Tuesday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 30.3 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 550,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 127.8 million reported cases and 2.7 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Monday evening:
▪ 339,761 confirmed cases, up 1,103 from reported cases Saturday.
▪ 22,624 probable cases, up 167 from Saturday’s data.
▪ 20,441 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 78 from data Saturday.
▪ 5,866,969 total molecular tests, up 40,980 from Saturday’s data.
▪ 5,226 deaths related to COVID-19, up eight from Friday’s data. That means 1.4% of all Washington residents who have tested positive for coronavirus have died. New deaths are not reported on the weekends.
The state’s vaccination report is updated updated Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. According to the state’s latest vaccination report Monday:
▪ 3,245 vaccinations had been given as of Saturday, March 27, an increase of 233,263 from the previous report (7.74%).
▪ The state has averaged administering 53,778 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 48,455 reported Friday.
▪ The state estimated that 27.40% of the state’s residents (2,067,942 people) have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 16.30% percent of residents (1,230,413 people) are fully vaccinated.
▪ 85.5% of the 3,811,870 doses that have been distributed to Washington state providers and long-term care centers have been administered.
