Whatcom sees lowest COVID increase in 2 months, as Bellingham schools report new incident
Whatcom County saw its smallest reported increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases with just two new cases on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Monday, April 20. No related deaths were reported over the weekend.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,725 confirmed cases and 89 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, April 18. An additional 286 probable cases — down nine 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 8,011 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.4% average of total cases.
The increase of two reported cases Monday — which represents two days of data, with the state no longer reporting on Sundays — is the least Whatcom County has seen since the state made a data adjustment and decreased Whatcom’s case total by 37 on Feb. 10 and four on Feb. 9.
Whatcom County’s daily average of newly reported cases the past seven days is 25.1, down from 26.7 on Saturday.
Whatcom County is currently in Phase 3 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Healthy Washington — Roadmap to Recovery plan. On April 12, Inslee announced Whatcom will remain in Phase 3 for at least the next three weeks, though three counties slid back to Phase 2.
To remain in Phase 3, Whatcom must make at least one of two goals set by the state on the next data evaluation date scheduled for May 3:
▪ The first goal is for the county to have fewer than 200 new cases per 100,000 residents in a two-week period. Whatcom’s infection rate was 146.9 between March 28 and April 10, 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 second goal is for the county to have fewer than five new COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents per seven days. Whatcom had one COVID-related hospitalization (or 0.4 per 100,000 residents) from March 31 through April 6, 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
Monday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Saturday, April 17, Whatcom County had administered 121,706 doses — up 6.50% (7,433 vaccinations) from Friday’s report, which was for data through Wednesday. That is ahead of the state’s 5.36% 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 38.98% of Whatcom County residents have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine — the eighth-highest in the state and ahead of the statewide average of 37.47%. The state reports 82,872 people in Whatcom County have initiated vaccination — the eighth-highest in the state and an increase of 4,055 from Friday’s report.
▪ The state estimates that 26.49% of Whatcom County residents are fully vaccinated — the 14th-highest in the state and ahead of the statewide average of 25.43%. The state reports 60,389 people in Whatcom County are fully vaccinated — eighth-highest in the state and an increase of 3,723 from Friday’s report.
▪ Based on 2019 five-year population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Whatcom County has administered 0.55 doses of vaccine per resident — 28th in the state and behind the overall state average of 0.63 doses per person.
Other Whatcom data
▪ 346 total hospitalizations during the pandemic according to the state dashboard, no change from Saturday’s report.
▪ 222,932 molecular tests administered, according to the state dashboard, up 5,575 from Saturday’s report.
▪ Thirteen patients were being treated for COVID-19 at St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham on Tuesday, April 20, according to the hospital, up seven from Saturday.
▪ 101 Western Washington University students have tested positive for COVID-19, including 13 from the spring quarter, according to the school’s dashboard, up two from Thursday’s data.
▪ 506 members of the Lummi Nation community have tested positive during the pandemic, according to a Lummi Tribal Health Center Facebook post Monday, up four since Thursday’s post. Eleven cases were active according to the post, and 13 community members have been hospitalized and three have died during the pandemic.
Bellingham schools report case
One new COVID-19 incident was reported by Bellingham Public Schools on its dashboard on Monday. The incident involved one confirmed case at Birchwood Elementary and required one class return to remote learning with an expected return date of May 3.
The district now has had 30 incidents and 33 reported cases since it began returning to in-person learning.
The district estimates 9,190 students have returned for in-person learning and 1,600 staff members are working on site.
Weekly case watch
The Washington State Department of Health reported 187 new cases last week in Whatcom County between April 11 and 17, as the county’s pandemic total climbed from 7,536 to 7,723 (a 2.48% growth).
The 187 cases were 14.7% more than the 163 cases reported a week earlier, and it marked the 23rd straight week Whatcom has surpassed 100 cases in a week and the 24th week during the pandemic that the county’s case total has reached triple figures in a week.
The state reported a total of 2,932 molecular tests between April 11 and 170, meaning Whatcom’s estimated test positivity was 6.38% last week — up from the 3.21% of the week before.
For comparison, the number of COVID cases statewide grew by 2.2% last week (7,652 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 28 through April 10 with a rate of 146.9 — unchanged from Friday and the 21st-highest infection rate among the 39 counties in the state.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people March 26 to April 1 of 283.1. No goal was stated for this metric, however, Whatcom’s average was up from the 279.4 reported Friday and the third-highest in the state.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 March 26 to April 1 with a rate of 3.7% — up from 3.3% on Thursday and the 25th-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 31.7 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 567,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 142.2 million reported cases and 3.0 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Monday evening:
▪ 359,810 confirmed cases, up 1,218 from reported cases Saturday.
▪ 27,110 probable cases, up 153 from Saturday’s data.
▪ 21,493 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 59 from data Saturday.
▪ 6,301,355 total molecular tests, up 45,420 from Saturday’s data.
▪ 5,394 deaths related to COVID-19, up 14 from Friday’s data. 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:
▪ 4,669,463 vaccinations had been given as of Saturday, April 17, an increase of 237,659 from the previous report.
▪ The state has averaged administering 56,048 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 57,532 reported Friday.
▪ The state estimated that 37.47 % of the state’s residents (2,868,659 people) have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 25.43% percent of residents (1,947,183 people) are fully vaccinated.
▪ 84.27% of the 5,541,260 doses that have been distributed to Washington state providers and long-term care centers have been administered.
This story was originally published April 20, 2021 at 9:36 AM.
