Whatcom sees 27 new COVID cases, one related death and one new variant case reported
Another COVID-related death has been reported in Whatcom County along with 27 new reported confirmed cases, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Wednesday, April 14.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,605 confirmed cases and 89 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, April 13. An additional 276 probable cases — up two 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 7,881 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.4% average of total cases.
The COVID-related death reported Tuesday was the 34th Whatcom has had reported in 2021 and the second for a person who first tested positive in March.
The person whose death was reported Tuesday first tested positive for COVID-19 on March 3, according to the state’s epidemiological curves, but no other information about the person, such as gender, age or hometown was reported.
Whatcom County’s daily average of newly reported cases the past seven days is 22.9, down from 23.1 on Tuesday.
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 145.6 between March 23 and April 5, according to the latest update of state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard on Wednesday, 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 four COVID-related hospitalizations (or 1.8 per 100,000 residents) from March 27 through April 2, according to the state’s epidemiological curves. That means Whatcom is currently making the second goal, according to data analysis by The Bellingham Herald. Whatcom County’s rate during the last evaluation period (March 24-30) was 1.3.
Whatcom vaccination update
Wednesday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, April 12, Whatcom County had administered 108,369 vaccinations — up 2.07% (1,787 vaccinations) from Monday’s report, which was for data through Saturday. That is behind the state’s 2.61% 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 35.47% of Whatcom County residents have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine — the 10th-highest in the state, and ahead of the statewide average of 34.97%. The state reports 80,868 people in Whatcom County have initiated vaccination — the eighth-highest in the state and an increase of 2,006 from Monday’s report. The number of people vaccinated and the number of vaccinations administered may differ due to Whatcom County residents traveling elsewhere to receive vaccine doses.
▪ The state estimates that 23.50% of Whatcom County residents are fully vaccinated — 16th-highest in the state, and ahead of the statewide average of 23.06%. The state reports 53,586 people in Whatcom County are fully vaccinated — eighth-highest in the state and an increase of 1,168 from Friday’s report.
▪ Based on 2019 five-year population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Whatcom County has administered 0.49 doses of vaccine per resident — 28th in the state and behind the overall state average of 0.58 doses per person.
Other Whatcom data
▪ 343 total hospitalizations during the pandemic according to the state dashboard, up one from Tuesday’s report.
▪ 218,285 molecular tests administered, according to the state dashboard, up 2,072 from Tuesday’s report.
▪ Seven patients were being treated for COVID-19 at St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham on Thursday, April 15, according to the hospital, up two from Wednesday.
▪ 97 Western Washington University students have tested positive for COVID-19, including nine from the spring quarter, according to the school’s dashboard, up one from Tuesday’ data.
▪ 499 members of the Lummi Nation community have tested positive during the pandemic, according to a Lummi Tribal Health Center Facebook post Wednesday, up two since Tuesday’s post. Four cases were active according to the post, and 13 community members have been hospitalized and three have died during the pandemic.
COVID variant update
Whatcom County saw one new confirmed COVID-19 variant case last week, according to the latest SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing and Variants report by the Washington State Department of Health released Thursday.
The newest case was from the B.1.427 variant (also known as one of the two California variants), bringing Whatcom’s confirmed count of cases of that variant to three — tied for eighth-most in the state.
Whatcom County still has 27 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant (also known as the U.K. variant) reported so far, which is third in the state behind King (93 confirmed cases) and Snohomish (57 cases) counties.
No other variants have been detected in Whatcom County.
Here are the statewide variant totals reported Thursday:
▪ B.1.1.7 (U.K.) variant: 500 cases.
▪ B.1.351 (South Africa) variant: 22 cases.
▪ P.1 (Brazil) variant: 34 cases.
▪ B.1.427 (California) variant: 206 cases.
▪ B.1.429 (California) variant: 1,049 cases.
▪ B.1.526 (New York) variant: 13 cases.
▪ B.1.525 (New York) variant: 18 cases.
▪ P.2 (Brazil variant: 16 cases.
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 23 through April 5 with a rate of 145.6 — up from 143.0 on Tuesday and the 18th-highest infection rate among the 39 counties in the state.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people March 21-27 of 288.1. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 224.1 and Whatcom’s average was up from the 287.8 reported Tuesday.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 March 21-27 with a rate of 3.5% — up from 3.4% on Tuesday and the 27th-highest rate in the state.
Pickford set to reopen
After being shut down for more than a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pickford Film Center will reopen on Friday, May 7.
The reopening will feature a screening of the documentary The Truffle Hunters, which follows a group of Italian men and their dogs and tells the story of the truffle hunting culture.
Showtimes and tickets will be available starting next week at Pickfordfilmcenter.org.
Once it reopens, the Pickford will show films Thursdays through Sundays. It will have limited and assigned seating and features a retrofitted air filtration system.
Face masks are required unless actively eating.
Capacity will fluctuate depending on seating assignments, but should be around 30%, said Meghan Schilling, house manager at the Pickford. During the first weekend, the Pickford plans on having four showings on Friday and six on the weekend, split between the two screens.
—Dave Gallagher, dgallagher@bhamherald.com.
State vaccine allotment
The Washington State Health Department reported it expects fewer vaccine doses from the federal government to be delivered next week, though the numbers over the next three weeks should continue to climb. Though the release didn’t mention it, the pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is certainly impacting those numbers.
The three-week forecast is:
▪ Week of April 18: 364,700 total doses, including 191,680 first doses and 173,020 second doses. Among those, the state is expecting 210,600 Pfizer doses and 154,100 Moderna doses.
▪ Week of April 25: 370,340 total doses, including 191,680 first doses and 178,660 second doses. Among those, the state is expecting 212,940 Pfizer doses and 157,400 Moderna doses.
▪ Week of May 2: 377,360 total doses, including 191,680 first doses and 185,680 second doses. Among those, the state is expecting 219,960 Pfizer doses and 157,400 Moderna doses.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Thursday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 31.4 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 564,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 138.4 million reported cases and 2.9 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Tuesday evening:
▪ 354,201 confirmed cases, up 1,054 from reported cases Tuesday.
▪ 26,138 probable cases, up 229 from Tuesday’s data.
▪ 21,239 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 55 from data Tuesday.
▪ 6,194,114 total molecular tests, up 20,318 from Tuesday’s data.
▪ 5,357 deaths related to COVID-19, up 17 from data reported Tuesday. 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:
▪ 4,299,351 vaccinations had been given as of Monday, April 12, an increase of 109,467 from the previous report.
▪ The state has averaged administering 62,306 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 57,577 reported Monday.
▪ The state estimated that 34.97 % of the state’s residents (2,677,748 people) have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 23.06% percent of residents (1,765245 people) are fully vaccinated.
▪ 81.97% of the 5,244,890 doses that have been distributed to Washington state providers and long-term care centers have been administered.
This story was originally published April 15, 2021 at 9:07 AM.
