Whatcom sees 34 new COVID cases but expecting an increase of 1,740 vaccine doses this week
A day after seeing its smallest reported increase of confirmed COVID-19 cases, Whatcom County had 34 new cases added to its total on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Tuesday, April 21, but no related deaths were reported.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,759 confirmed cases and 89 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, April 19. An additional 290 probable cases — up four from Monday’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 8,049 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 25.9, up from 25.1 on Monday.
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 153.1 between March 29 and April 11, according to the latest update of the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard on Tuesday, 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 two COVID-related hospitalizations (or 0.9 per 100,000 residents) from April 2-8, 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 vaccine allocation
Whatcom County is expecting 940 more COVID vaccine doses from the Washington State Department of Health this week than it received last week, according to the latest vaccine update from the Whatcom County Health Department released Tuesday.
Additionally, the health department reported it is expecting 800 doses will be sent to federally qualified health centers in Whatcom County — no doses were received via that vaccine program last week, according to the report.
That means Whatcom County is expecting 1,740 more vaccine doses than it expected last week.
For the week of April 11, the county received 12,250 total doses, including 6,440 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via the state Department of Health. Additionally, the county reported receiving 5,810 doses from the Federal Pharmacy Partnership.
For the week of April 18, the county reported it is expecting 7,380 doses from the state. Doses from the Federal Pharmacy Partnership for this week are not yet available, according to the report.
The number of doses through the Long-Term Care Pharmacy Partnership and the Indian Health Service are not available for either last week or this week.
▪ Monday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Saturday, April 17, Whatcom County had administered 121,706 doses. The state estimates 38.98% of Whatcom County residents (88,872 people) have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine and 26.49% of Whatcom County residents (60,389 people) are fully vaccinated.
Alaska Ferry crew members test positive
Two crew members aboard the Alaska Ferry Matanuska tested positive for COVID-19 on a trip from Bellingham to Ketchikan, Alaska, according to a Alaska Department of Transportation news release Monday. No passengers aboard the ferry are thought to have been exposed by the crew members.
While en route from Bellingham, a member of the Matanuska’s engineering crew began showing COVID-19 symptoms, according to the release. The ship’s captain quarantined the crew member in their cabin with a ventilation system.
When the ship arrived in Ketchikan, additional testing and contact tracing was performed, the release states, and no passengers were identified as close contacts, but a second member of the engineering crew tested positive.
Both crew members will self isolate for at least 10 days — the first in a Ketchikan hotel and the second aboard the Matanuska until it reaches Juneau, Alaska, and then at home — according to the release
The Matanuska was delayed approximately 11 hours Sunday, April 18, but was expected to have replacement crew and be back on schedule by Sunday night.
Other Whatcom data
▪ 350 total hospitalizations during the pandemic according to the state dashboard, up four from Monday’s report.
▪ 220,970 molecular tests administered, according to the state dashboard, down 1,962 from Monday’s report.
▪ Seventeen patients were being treated for COVID-19 at St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham on Wednesday, April 21, according to the hospital, up four from Tuesday and the highest the hospital has seen since it was treating 18 on Feb. 8.
▪ 101 Western Washington University students have tested positive for COVID-19, including 13 from the spring quarter, according to the school’s dashboard, unchanged from Monday’s data.
▪ 509 members of the Lummi Nation community have tested positive during the pandemic, according to a Lummi Tribal Health Center Facebook post Tuesday, up three since Monday’s post. Fourteen cases were active according to the post, and 13 community members have been hospitalized and three have died during the pandemic.
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 29 through April 11 with a rate of 153.1 — up from 146.9 on Monday and the 22nd-highest infection rate among the 39 counties in the state.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people March 27 to April 2 of 280.5. No goal was stated for this metric, however, Whatcom’s average was down from the 283.1 reported Monday but 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 3.4% — down from 3.7% on Monday and the 25th-highest rate in the state.
Whatcom volunteer update
Whatcom County has had plenty of help navigating the COVID-19 pandemic from volunteers in the county, and on Tuesday, the Whatcom County Health Department recognized all of them as part of National Volunteer Week.
“COVID-19 presented a huge challenge for our state, nation and county,” Whatcom County Health Department Communicable Disease and Epidemiology Manager Cindy Hollinsworth said in a news release. “Thankfully, Whatcom County volunteers helped us rise to the occasion.”
The health department reported that 298 health department and Whatcom Unified Command volunteers logged more than 21,855 hours of time helping the county with everything from hand-making face coverings for the public to use to conserve N-95 masks, helping marginalized communities with food donations, serving at community test sites and contact tracing.
“Over the past year, hundreds of residents of Whatcom County have made invaluable and extraordinary contributions to our community’s response to the COVID crisis, selflessly sharing their time, know-how and resources,” County Executive Satpal Sidhu said in the release. “I want to let you know these efforts are recognized and deeply appreciated.”
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Wednesday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 31.7 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 568,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 143.1 million reported cases and 3.0 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Tuesday evening:
▪ 361,104 confirmed cases, up 1,294 from reported cases Monday.
▪ 27,614 probable cases, up 504 from Monday’s data.
▪ 21,596 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 103 from data Monday.
▪ 6,322,200 total molecular tests, up 20,845 from Monday’s data.
▪ 5,407 deaths related to COVID-19, up 13 from Monday’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 Monday:
▪ 4,669,463 vaccinations had been given as of Saturday, April 17, an increase of 237,659 from the previous report.
▪ 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.
