Whatcom County sees 29 new COVID-19 cases reported by state on Saturday

Whatcom County had 29 new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Saturday, April 24. Deaths are not reported on the weekends.

Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,907 confirmed cases and 89 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Friday, April 23. An additional 300 probable cases — an increase of two 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 8,207 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 26.3, down from 29.6 on Friday.

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 152.2 between April 1 and April 14, according to the latest update of the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard on Friday, 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 four COVID-related hospitalizations (or 1.8 per 100,000 residents) from April 6-12, 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

Friday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, April 21, Whatcom County had administered 128,968 doses — up 3.26% (4,075 vaccinations) from Wednesday’s report, which was for data through Monday, April 19.

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 41.03% of Whatcom County residents have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine — ninth-highest in the state and ahead of the statewide average of 39.32%. The state reports 93,546 people in Whatcom County have initiated vaccination — an increase of 2,660 from Wednesday’s report.

▪ The state estimates 27.80% of Whatcom County residents are fully vaccinated — ninth-highest in the state and ahead of the statewide average of 26.82%. The state reports 63,392 people in Whatcom County are fully vaccinated — an increase of 1,920 from Wednesday’s report.

▪ Based on 2019 five-year population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Whatcom County has administered 0.58 doses of vaccine per resident — behind the overall state average of 0.66 doses per person.

Numbers elsewhere

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

▪ The U.S. has more than 32.04 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 571,905 deaths.

▪ Worldwide, there are more than 146.04 million reported cases and 3.09 million deaths.

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

▪ 366,746 confirmed cases, up 1,537 from reported cases Friday.

▪ 28,566 probable cases, up 181 from Friday’s data.

▪ 21,845 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 73 from data Friday.

▪ 6,403,428 total molecular tests, up 16,877 from Friday’s data.

▪ 5,434 deaths related to COVID-19 reported from Thursday’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.

This story was originally published April 25, 2021 at 5:00 AM.