Whatcom sees 42 new COVID cases Saturday

Whatcom County saw 42 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Saturday, April 10.

Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,536 confirmed cases and 88 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Friday, April 9. An additional 272 probable cases — up six 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 1.1% of Whatcom’s 7,808 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.4% average of total cases.

Whatcom County’s daily average of newly reported cases the past seven days is 23.3, up from 21.7 on Friday.

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 135.8 between March 17 and 30, according to the latest update of state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard on Friday, 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 six COVID-related hospitalizations (or 2.66 per 100,000 residents) from March 17-23 — 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 Friday’s report.

▪ 214,425 molecular tests administered, according to the state dashboard, up 61 from Friday’s report.

▪ Four patients were being treated for COVID-19 at St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham on Sunday, according to the hospital, up one from Saturday.

▪ Friday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, April 7, Whatcom County had administered 99,046 doses. The state estimates 29.16% of Whatcom County residents (65,610 people) have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine and 18.41% of Whatcom County residents (41,422 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 Friday evening for data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday. It showed:

▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents March 17-30 with a rate of 135.8 — down from 138.5 on Thursday and the 16th-highest infection rate in the state.

▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people March 16-22 of 296.1. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 223.2 but Whatcom’s average was down from the 301.7 reported Thursday.

▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 March 16-26 with a rate of 3.8 — up from 2.3% on Thursday and the 28th-highest rate in the state.

Numbers elsewhere

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

▪ The U.S. has more than 31.08 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 561,074 deaths.

▪ Worldwide, there are more than 134.71 million reported cases and 2.91 million deaths.

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

▪ 350,940 confirmed cases, up 1,223 from reported cases Friday.

▪ 25,290 probable cases, up 213 from Friday’s data.

▪ 20,961 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 20 from data Friday.

▪ 6,115,030 total molecular tests, up 23,015 from Friday’s data.

▪ 5,322 deaths related to COVID-19 were reported Friday. That means 1.4% of all Washington residents who have tested positive for coronavirus have died. New deaths are not reported on the weekends.

According to the state’s latest vaccination report on Friday:

▪ 3,943,100 vaccinations had been given as of Wednesday, April 7, an increase of 144,354 from the previous report.

▪ The state has averaged administering 58,480 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 59,592 reported Wednesday.

▪ The state estimated that 32.68% of the state’s residents (2,419,662 people) have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 20.85% percent of residents (1,543,765 people) are fully vaccinated.

▪ 81.93% of the 4,813,000 doses that have been distributed to Washington state providers and long-term care centers have been administered.

This story was originally published April 11, 2021 at 8:00 AM.