Whatcom County sees 29 new COVID cases Wednesday; 1 in 5 residents fully vaccinated
Whatcom County saw 29 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and no related deaths on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Wednesday, April 7.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,445 confirmed cases and 88 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, April 6. An additional 260 probable cases — up 11 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 7,705 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 is 21.9, up from 19.9 on Tuesday.
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 Monday, 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 138.9 between March 15 and 28, 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 seven COVID-related hospitalizations (or 3.10 per 100,000 residents) from March 14-21 — 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.
Other Whatcom data
▪ 338 total hospitalizations during the pandemic according to the state dashboard, no change from Tuesday’s report.
▪ 212,478 molecular tests administered, according to the state dashboard, up 432 from Tuesday’s report.
▪ One patient was being treated for COVID-19 at St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham on Wednesday, according to the hospital, the same number as Tuesday.
▪ 93 Western Washington University students have tested positive for COVID-19, including five from the spring quarter, according to the school’s dashboard, up one from March 30 data.
▪ Wednesday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, April 2, Whatcom County had administered 94,370 doses. The state estimates 31.58% of Whatcom County residents (71,055 people) have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine and 20.39% of Whatcom County residents (45,877 people) are fully vaccinated.
Vaccination data reported on the state dashboard does not include data from tribal health providers in Whatcom County, which receive COVID-19 vaccines directly from the federal government.
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 15-28 with a rate of 138.9 — down from 140.3 on Tuesday and the 15th-highest infection rate in the state.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people March 14-20 of 302.9. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 222.6 and Whatcom’s average was down from the 309.7 reported Tuesday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 March 14-20 with a rate of 2.3% — down from 2.4% on Tuesday and the 28th-highest rate in the state.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Wednesday night:
▪ The U.S. has more than 30.92 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 559,105 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 132.95 million reported cases and 2.88 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Wednesday evening:
▪ 347,523 confirmed cases, up 1,103 from reported cases Tuesday.
▪ 24,647 probable cases, up 415 from Tuesday’s data.
▪ 20,885 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 66 from data Tuesday.
▪ 6,061,236 total molecular tests, up 18,349 from Tuesday’s data.
▪ 5,306 deaths related to COVID-19, up seven 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:
▪ 3,798,746 vaccinations had been given as of Monday, April 5, an increase of 76,043 from the previous report.
▪ The state has averaged administering 59,592 doses of vaccines the past seven days — more than the Department of Health’s stated daily goal of 45,000, but down from the average 59,600 reported Monday.
▪ The state estimated that 31.39% of the state’s residents (2,324,1494 people) have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 19.98% percent of residents (1,479,340 people) are fully vaccinated.
▪ 84.83% of the 4,477,920 doses that have been distributed to Washington state providers and long-term care centers have been administered.
