Whatcom’s growing COVID case and hospitalization rates have health department ‘concerned’
The two numbers that the state monitors to determine whether Whatcom County will remain in Phase 3 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Healthy Washington — Roadmap to Recovery plan continue to creep closer to thresholds that could eventually send the county back to Phase 2.
That being said, Whatcom County appears to be safely within the guidelines to remain in Phase 3 for the next state data evaluation scheduled for Monday, May 3. But if the current trend continues, that could change three weeks later.
“Yes, we’re concerned by the growing case and hospitalization rates, especially since it parallels the trends throughout the state,” Whatcom County Health Department Director Erika Lautenbach said in an emailed statement to The Bellingham Herald on Wednesday, April 28. “None of us want to see our county go backward in the Roadmap to Recovery, and though we don’t expect that to happen in this evaluation period, we’re still apprehensive about the recent numbers.
“Let’s not forget that more than a year into this pandemic, COVID-19 is still a serious and deadly disease. No matter how tired we are of wearing masks and staying apart, these are still the things we need to do to save lives.”
Whatcom County saw 31 new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported Tuesday, April 27, on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard, and five new COVID-related hospitalizations were reported.
No new COVID-related deaths were included in Tuesday’s data release.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 7,991 confirmed cases and 89 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, April 26. An additional 305 probable cases — down one 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 8,296 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 33.1, up from an average of 25.9 one week earlier (April 14-20).
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 171.5 from April 6-19, according to the latest update of the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard on Tuesday, 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 10-16 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.
Though the data remains incomplete and could change as new information becomes available, Whatcom County has seen 17 COVID-related hospitalizations reported since April 16. According to an analysis of the state epidemiological data by The Herald, 13 of those hospitalizations were for people who first tested positive for COVID between April 19 and 25.
That would mean the county averaged 5.7 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents for that seven-day period, and it therefore would fail the second criteria of the state’s plan.
Whatcom still would make the first goal based on case counts and would remain in Phase 3, but those daily case counts also have been trending upward the last two weeks. The rolling seven-day average of new cases in the county has increased from between 19 and 22 in early April to more than 30 per day late last week, according to the state epidemiological curves.
“The best news is that our most powerful tool to fight COVID-19, the vaccine, has never been more easily accessible,” Lautenbach wrote. “Thankfully, nearly one-third of Whatcom County is fully vaccinated. We need to get more people there to tamp down another potential wave of infections and hospitalizations.
“There are hundreds of appointments still available at the Community Vaccination Center clinics this Thursday and Saturday, and many more appointments available at other providers in the community. If you haven’t been vaccinated yet, please make an appointment.”
Other Whatcom data
▪ 363 total hospitalizations during the pandemic according to the state dashboard, up five from Monday’s report.
▪ 225,059 molecular tests administered, according to the state dashboard, up 526 from Monday’s report.
▪ Twenty-two patients were being treated for COVID-19 at St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham on Wednesday, according to the hospital, up two from Tuesday.
▪ 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 Monday’s data.
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 April 6-19 with a rate of 171.5 — up from 169.7 on Monday and 22nd-highest among the 39 counties in the state.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 molecular testing rate per 100,000 people April 3-9 of 237.4. No goal was stated for this metric, however, Whatcom’s average was up from the 233.0 reported Monday and fourth-highest in the state.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 2.0% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 April 3-9 with a rate of 3.6% — unchanged from Monday and 30th-highest in the state.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Wednesday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 32.1 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 573,00 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 148.8 million reported cases and 3.1 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Tuesday evening:
▪ 369,481 confirmed cases, up 924 from reported cases Monday.
▪ 29,028 probable cases, up 168 from Monday’s data.
▪ 22,033 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 83 from data Monday.
▪ 6,467,669 total molecular tests, up 20,576 from Monday’s data.
▪ 5,462 deaths related to COVID-19, up 12 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:
▪ 5,157,791 vaccinations had been given as of Saturday, April 24, an increase of 238,585 from 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 28, 2021 at 9:36 AM.
