Whatcom vaccine doses still lagging behind state, as 15 new COVID cases reported Wednesday
Whatcom County saw 15 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Wednesday, March 31, while its death total related to coronavirus dropped by one.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,292 confirmed cases and 86 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, March 30. An additional 239 probable cases — up three from Tuesday’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 1.1% of Whatcom’s 7,531 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.4% average of total cases.
The death that was determined not to be COVID-related by the state Department of Health was for a person who reportedly first tested positive on Jan. 26, but no other information about the person, such as gender, age or hometown was reported. The Department of Health has regularly reconciled data throughout the pandemic as more thorough information becomes available.
The county’s daily average of newly reported cases the past seven days decreased to 21.3 per day.
Whatcom County is currently in Phase 3 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Healthy Washington — Roadmap to Recovery 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 8 and 21, according to the latest update of state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard on Wednesday, 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 6-12 — the most recent complete data on the state’s epidemiological curves — meaning Whatcom is currently making the second goal, according to an analysis by The Bellingham Herald.
Whatcom vaccination update
Wednesday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, March 29, Whatcom County had administered 82,551 vaccinations — up 1.18% (1,715 vaccinations) from Monday’s report, which was for data through Saturday. That is behind the state’s 2.47% 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 28.14% of Whatcom County residents have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine — 14th-highest in the state, and ahead of the statewide average of 27.90%. The state reports 63,692 people in Whatcom County have initiated vaccination — the eighth-highest in the state and an increase of 438 from Monday’s report.
▪ The state estimates that 17.17% of Whatcom County residents are fully vaccinated — 19th-highest in the state, and ahead of the statewide average of 16.90%. The state reports 38,692 people in Whatcom County are fully vaccinated — the eighth highest in the state and an increase of 723 from Monday’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 0.45 doses per person.
Other Whatcom data
▪ 333 total hospitalizations during the pandemic according to the state dashboard, down one from Tuesday’s report.
▪ 206,744 molecular tests administered, according to the state dashboard, up 114 from Tuesday’s report.
▪ Eight patients were being treated for COVID-19 at St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham on Thursday, according to the hospital, up three from Wednesday.
▪ 92 Western Washington University students have tested positive for COVID-19, including four from the spring quarter, according to the school’s dashboard, up one from Tuesday’s data.
Monthly update
Whatcom County saw fewer new COVID cases reported in the month of March than it’s seen since October, as the county broke a three-month string of having more than 1,000 cases reported.
Whatcom County had 688 new confirmed cases reported between March 1 and April 1 — 22.19 per day, which is the best rate the county has had since 8.23 per day were reported in October. It is also nearly half the daily rate of 38.71 reported in February.
Whatcom County also had three deaths reported during March — none of which were for people who actually first tested positive for COVID-19 during the month — which is an 84.2% drop from the 19 that were reported in February after Whatcom’s post-holiday case surge.
Testing site closed Easter
The COVID-19 testing site at Bellingham International Airport will be closed Sunday, April 4, in observance of the Easter holiday, according to a news release from the Whatcom County Health Department.
Testing will resume at the site on Monday, April 5. Testing is usually available daily between noon at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Whatcom’s risk assessment
The state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard was last updated Wednesday evening for data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. It showed:
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents March 8-21 with a rate of 141.6 — unchanged from Tuesday and the 11th-highest infection rate in the state.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people March 7-13 of 288.1. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 225.2 and Whatcom’s average was down from the 291.9 reported Tuesday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 March 7-13 with a rate of 3.7% — up from the 3.5% reported Tuesday and the 18th-highest rate in the state.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Thursday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 30.4 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 552,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 129.0 million reported cases and 2.8 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Wednesday evening:
▪ 341,361 confirmed cases, up 990 from reported cases Tuesday.
▪ 23,125 probable cases, up 261 from Tuesday’s data.
▪ 20,551 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 61 from data Tuesday.
▪ 5,912,471 total molecular tests, up 21,548 from Tuesday’s data.
▪ 5,247 deaths related to COVID-19, up 10 from Tuesday’s data. That means 1.4% of all Washington residents who have tested positive for coronavirus have died.
According to the state’s latest vaccination report on Wednesday:
▪ 3,325,998 vaccinations had been given as of Monday, March 29, an increase of 80,016 from the previous report (2.47%).
▪ The state has averaged administering 55,894 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 53,778 reported Monday.
▪ The state estimated that 27.90% of the state’s residents (2,105,412 people) have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 16.90% percent of residents (1,275,265 people) are fully vaccinated.
▪ 83.02% of the 4,006,330 doses that have been distributed to Washington state providers and long-term care centers have been administered.
