Whatcom expecting 50% more vaccine doses, as state reports 21 new COVID cases Tuesday
Whatcom County saw 21 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Tuesday, March 30, and no related deaths were reported over the weekend.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,277 confirmed cases and 87 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, March 29. An additional 236 probable cases — up nine from Monday’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 7,513 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 decreased to 21.9 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 date 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 141.6 between March 7 and 20, according to the latest update of state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard on Tuesday, 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 three COVID-related hospitalizations (or 1.33 per 100,000 residents) from March 5-11 — 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 vaccine allotment
The number of COVID-19 vaccine doses the Whatcom County Health Department is expecting to be allocated by the Washington State Department of Health this week is expected to grow by nearly 50%, according to data released Tuesday by the county health department.
Whatcom County is expecting 5,140 vaccine doses from the CDC’s allocation to Washington state for the week of March 29, according to the release — up 48.1% (1,670 doses) from the 3,470 doses allocated the week of March 22.
Additionaly, the county is expecting 900 doses for federally qualified health centers this week for a total of 6,040 doses expected this week. It received no doses through that program last week, the country reported.
In addition to the 3,470 doses allocated from the state last week, Whatcom County received 3,440 doses as part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Partnership — numbers that are not yet available for this week. The county reported that doses allocated through the Long-Term Care Pharmacy Partnership and to area Native American communities are not yet available for either this week or last week.
Monday’s state vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Saturday, March 27, Whatcom County had administered 81,589 vaccinations. The state estimates 7.94% of Whatcom County residents (62,954 people) have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine and 16.85% of Whatcom County residents (37,969 people) are fully vaccinated.
Also Tuesday, the state Department of Health announced that the state’s online eligibility tool is no longer required to get a vaccine beginning March 31. Instead, people should use the prioritization guidance webpage to see when they are eligible to be vaccinated, the state release said, and then use the Vaccine Locator to find an appointment.
Vaccine Prioritization Guidance: doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/COVID19/VaccineInformation/AllocationandPrioritization.
Vaccine Locator: vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov/
Other Whatcom data
▪ 334 total hospitalizations during the pandemic according to the state dashboard, unchanged from Monday’s report.
▪ 206,630 molecular tests administered, according to the state dashboard, up 2,427 from Monday’s report.
▪ Five patients were being treated for COVID-19 at St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham on Wednesday, according to the hospital, up one from Tuesday.
▪ 91 Western Washington University students have tested positive for COVID-19, including 50 from the winter quarter, according to the school’s dashboard, up three from Monday’s data.
Long-term care update
Whatcom County had one new COVID-19-related death and six new cases associated with its long-term care facilities in the past three weeks, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s latest COVID-19 Long-Term Care Report.
According to the report, which was released Tuesday and reflected data through Monday, March 29, Whatcom County long-term care facilities have had 345 confirmed cases during the pandemic — a 1.8% increase from the 339 in the previous report, which included data through March 8.
The number of COVID-related deaths in long-term care facilities increased to 45 — a 2.3% increase from 44 — according to the state’s data.
The 345 cases mean that long-term care facilities had 4.8% of the 7,256 overall cases reported in Whatcom County on Monday — down from 5.0% on March 8 — while the 45 related deaths represent 51.7% of the county’s death total (87).
Statewide, long-term care facilities have been associated with 19,293 cases (5% of the state’s total cases) and 2,571 related deaths (49% of the state’s death total), the report showed.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last updated Tuesday evening for data as of 11:59 p.m. Monday. It showed:
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents March 7-20 with a rate of 141.6 — down from 142.0 reported Monday and the 10th-highest infection rate in the state.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people March 6-12 of 291.9. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 225.1 and Whatcom’s average was down from the 292.0 reported Monday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 March 6-12 with a rate of 3.5% — down from the 3.8% reported Monday and the 19th-highest rate in the state.
Western details fall plans
Western Washington University is hoping to hold approximately two-thirds of classes in-person during the fall quarter, while still providing opportunities for remote teaching, learning and working, according to a letter from WWU President Sabah Randhawa Tuesday.
The school also is hoping for more students to return to university residences and the resumption of more on-campus services and activities, Randhawa wrote.
The school will still follow any CDC and state guidelines on masking and social distancing requirements at the time and will continue testing for COVID-19 if needed.
“I continue to be optimistic that as the vaccine rollout accelerates, and as infection rates decline, we will return to a more robust presence on campus,” Randhawa wrote.
Randhawa also encouraged all students, faculty and staff to be vaccinated by the start of the fall quarter “as you feel comfortable doing so, recognizing that there are religious, physical and/or philosophical reasons that some people may not wish to get vaccinated.”
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Wednesday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 30.3 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 551,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 128.3 million reported cases and 2.8 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Tuesday evening:
▪ 340,371 confirmed cases, up 610 from reported cases Monday.
▪ 22,864 probable cases, up 240 from Monday’s data.
▪ 20,490 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 49 from data Monday.
▪ 5,890,924 total molecular tests, up 23,955 from Monday’s data.
▪ 5,237 deaths related to COVID-19, up 11 from Monday’s data. That means 1.4% of all Washington residents who have tested positive for coronavirus have died.
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 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.
This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 8:57 AM.
