Whatcom surpasses vaccination milestone, as county sees 13 new COVID cases Monday
On the day Whatcom County topped 100,000 reported vaccination doses administered, it saw only 13 new reported COVID-19 cases and no related deaths on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Monday, April 12.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,549 confirmed cases and 88 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, April 11. An additional 273 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 1.1% of Whatcom’s 7,822 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 19.9, down from 23.3 on Saturday.
Whatcom County is currently in Phase 3 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Healthy Washington — Roadmap to Recovery plan. On Monday, Inslee announced Whatcom will remain in Phase 3 for at least the next three weeks, though Cowlitz, Pierce and Whitman counties will slide back to Phase 2 beginning Friday, April 16.
To remain in Phase 3, Whatcom must make two goals set by the state on the next data evaluation date scheduled for May 3:
▪ The county must have fewer than 200 new cases per 100,000 residents in a two-week period. Whatcom’s infection rate was 149.1 between March 21 and April 3, according to the latest update of state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard on Monday, meaning Whatcom is currently making the first goal. Whatcom County’s rate during the last evaluation period (March 20 to April 2) was 154.8.
▪ The county must also have fewer than five new COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents per seven days. Whatcom had five COVID-related hospitalizations (or 2.2 per 100,000 residents) from March 25-31, meaning Whatcom is currently making the second goal, according to an analysis by The Bellingham Herald. Whatcom County’s rate during the last evaluation period (March 24-30) was 1.3.
Whatcom vaccination update
Monday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Saturday, April 10, Whatcom County had administered 106,173 vaccinations — up 7.20% (7,127 vaccinations) from Friday’s report, which was for data through Wednesday. That is ahead of the state’s 6.26% 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 34.59% of Whatcom County residents have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine — 12th-highest in the state, and ahead of the statewide average of 34.13%. The state reports 78,862 people in Whatcom County have initiated vaccination — eighth-highest in the state and an increase of 3,252 from Friday’s report.
▪ The state estimates that 22.99% of Whatcom County residents are fully vaccinated — 16th-highest in the state, and ahead of the statewide average of 22.25%. The state reports 52,418 people in Whatcom County are fully vaccinated — the eighth-highest in the state and an increase of 996 from Friday’s report.
▪ Based on 2019 five-year population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Whatcom County has administered 0.48 doses of vaccine per resident — 12th lowest in the state and behind the overall state average of 0.57 doses per person.
Other Whatcom data
▪ 341 total hospitalizations during the pandemic according to the state dashboard, up three from Saturday’s report.
▪ 215,660 molecular tests administered, according to the state dashboard, up 1,235 from Saturday’s report.
▪ Five patients were being treated for COVID-19 at St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham on Tuesday, according to the hospital, up one from Saturday.
▪ 96 Western Washington University students have tested positive for COVID-19, including eight from the spring quarter, according to the school’s dashboard, up two from Friday’s data.
▪ 495 members of the Lummi Nation community have tested positive during the pandemic, according to a Lummi Tribal Health Center Facebook post Friday, unchanged since a March 19 post. No cases were active according to the post, and 13 community members have been hospitalized and three have died during the pandemic.
Lynden schools see cases
The Lynden School District’s COVID-19 dashboard showed five new COVID-19 cases spread over four incidents in its schools when it was updated Monday.
The new incidents, according to the dashboard, included:
▪ One new case reported the week of March 22-26 at Lynden High School. This was in addition to four cases previously reported in the incident, which required some individuals to quarantine or return to remote learning until April 4.
▪ Two new cases reported the week of March 29 through April 2 at Lynden Middle School. The incident required students on a bus to return to remote learning or quarantine with an expected return date of April 15.
▪ One new case reported the week of March 29 through April 2 at Bernice Vossbeck Elementary. 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 Isom Elementary. The incident required one class and students from one bus to return to remote learning or quarantine with an expected return date of April 15.
Overall, the district’s dashboard reports there have been 68 cases spread across 45 incidents since Lynden students began returning to classes. Twenty-one incidents have required some students and/or staff to temporarily return to remote learning or quarantine.
Weekly case watch
The Washington State Department of Health reported 163 new cases last week in Whatcom County between April 4 and 10, as the county’s pandemic total climbed from 7,373 to 7,536 (a 3.21% growth).
The 163 cases were 7.2% more than the 152 cases reported a week earlier, and it marked the 22nd straight week Whatcom has surpassed 100 cases in a week and the 23rd week during the pandemic that the county’s case total has reached triple figures in a week.
The state reported a total of 5,081 molecular tests between April 4 and 10, meaning Whatcom’s estimated test positivity was 3.21% last week — up from the 2.51% of the week before.
For comparison, the number of COVID cases statewide grew by 1.9% last week (6,424 cases) last week.
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 21 through April 3 with a rate of 149.1 — up from 135.8 on Friday and the 17th-highest infection rate in the state.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people March 19-25 of 286.2. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 219.9 and Whatcom’s average was down from the 296.1 reported Friday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 March 19-25 with a rate of 3.1 — down from 3.8% on Friday and the 27th-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 31.2 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 562,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 136.8 million reported cases and 2.9 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Monday evening:
▪ 352,391 confirmed cases, up 1,451 from reported cases Saturday.
▪ 25,561 probable cases, up 271 from Saturday’s data.
▪ 21,057 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 96 from data Saturday.
▪ 6,154,418 total molecular tests, up 39,388 from Saturday’s data.
▪ 5,329 deaths related to COVID-19, up seven from data 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 Monday:
▪ 4,189,884 vaccinations had been given as of Saturday, April 10, an increase of 246,784 from the previous report.
▪ The state has averaged administering 57,577 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 58,480 reported Friday.
▪ The state estimated that 34.13% of the state’s residents (2,612,736 people) have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 22.25% percent of residents (1,703,363 people) are fully vaccinated.
▪ 82.25% of the 5,094,380 doses that have been distributed to Washington state providers and long-term care centers have been administered.
