Whatcom sees largest reported increase in new COVID cases in more than two months
Whatcom County saw its largest reported increase in new confirmed COVID-19 cases in more than two months with 53 more infections reported Monday, April 26, on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard. No related deaths were reported over the weekend.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,960 confirmed cases and 89 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, April 25. An additional 306 probable cases — an increase of six 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 8,266 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.4% average of total cases.
Monday’s report represents two days’ worth of data, as the Department of Health no longer releases data on Sundays. But it was still the largest reported increase Whatcom has seen since 94 cases were reported on Feb. 22, which also represented two days’ worth of data.
Whatcom County’s daily average of newly reported cases the past seven days is 33.6, up from an average of 25.1 one week earlier (April 13-19).
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 Monday, 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 169.7 from April 5-18, according to the latest update of the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard on Monday, meaning Whatcom is currently making the 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 six COVID-related hospitalizations (or 2.6 per 100,000 residents) from April 8-14 according to the state’s epidemiological curves. That means Whatcom is currently making the 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 24, Whatcom County had administered 135,612 doses — up 5.15% (6,644 vaccinations) from Friday’s report, which was for data through Wednesday, April 21. That is ahead of the state’s 4.85% 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 42.46% of Whatcom County residents have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine — sixth-highest in the state and ahead of the statewide average of 40.89%. The state reports 96,812 people in Whatcom County have initiated vaccination — an increase of 3,266 from Friday’s report.
▪ The state estimates 29.46% of Whatcom County residents are fully vaccinated — 13th-highest in the state and ahead of the statewide average of 28.34%. The state reports 67,159 people in Whatcom County are fully vaccinated — an increase of 3,767 from Friday’s report.
▪ Based on 2019 five-year population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Whatcom County has administered 0.61 doses of vaccine per resident — 27th in the state and behind the overall state average of 0.70 doses per person.
Other Whatcom data
▪ 358 total hospitalizations during the pandemic according to the state dashboard, up six from Saturday’s report.
▪ 224,533 molecular tests administered, according to the state dashboard, up 2,473 from Saturday’s report.
▪ Twenty patients were being treated for COVID-19 at St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham on Monday, according to the hospital, up eight from Saturday.
▪ 103 Western Washington University students have tested positive for COVID-19, including 15 from the spring quarter, according to the school’s dashboard, unchanged from Friday’s data.
▪ 512 members of the Lummi Nation community have tested positive during the pandemic, according to a Lummi Tribal Health Center Facebook post Monday, up two since Thursday’s post. Nine 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
A third new COVID-19 incident was reported by Bellingham Public Schools on its dashboard the week of April 19-23. The incident involved one confirmed case at Kulshan Middle School and required select contacts return to remote learning with an expected return date of May 6.
Earlier in the week, Bellingham Public Schools reported two separate incidents at Birchwood Elementary, each requiring one class return to remote learning.
The district now has had 33 incidents and 35 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 184 new cases last week in Whatcom County between April 18 and 24, as the county’s pandemic total climbed from 7,723 to 7,907 (a 2.38% growth).
The 184 cases were 1.6% less than the 187 cases reported a week earlier, and it marked the 24th straight week Whatcom has surpassed 100 cases in a week and the 25th week during the pandemic that the county’s case total has reached triple figures in a week.
The state reported a total of 4,703 molecular tests between April 18 and April 24, meaning Whatcom’s estimated test positivity was 3.91% last week — down from the 6.38% of the week before.
For comparison, the number of COVID cases statewide grew by 2.3% last week (8,154 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. It showed:
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents April 5-18 with a rate of 169.7 — up from 152.2 on Friday and 22nd-highest among the 39 counties in the state.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people April 2-8 of 233.0. No goal was stated for this metric, however, Whatcom’s average was down from the 240.3 reported Friday and fifth-highest in the state.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 April 2-8 with a rate of 3.6% — down from 4.7% on Friday and 30th-highest in the state.
Vaccination forum
The Whatcom County Health Department will host a virtual COVID-19 vaccination forum from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 29, on YouTube, according to a health department news release.
The forum will highlight the progress the county is making toward vaccination and highlight organizations connecting residents to vaccination, the release states.
Health Department Director Erika Lautenbach will moderate the forum, but representatives from North South Accountable Community Health, Unity Care NW and Northwest Regional Council are expected to participate.
There will be no Q&A session during the forum.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Tuesday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 32.1 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 572,00 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 148.0 million reported cases and 3.1 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Monday evening:
▪ 368,557 confirmed cases, up 1,811 from reported cases Saturday.
▪ 28,860 probable cases, up 294 from Saturday’s data.
▪ 21,950 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 105 from data Saturday.
▪ 6,447,093 total molecular tests, up 43,665 from Saturday’s data.
▪ 5,450 deaths related to COVID-19, up 16 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:
▪ 5,157,791 vaccinations had been given as of Saturday, April 24, an increase of 238,585 from the previous report.
▪ The state has averaged administering 59,856 doses of vaccines the past seven days, up from the average 61,184 in the previous report.
▪ The state estimated that 40.89% of the state’s residents (3,130,416 people) have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 28.34% percent of residents (2,169,909 people) are fully vaccinated.
This story was originally published April 27, 2021 at 8:46 AM.
