One death, 32 new COVID cases; state estimates 31% of Whatcom residents fully vaccinated
Whatcom County saw 32 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and one related death reported Friday on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 8,115 confirmed cases and 91 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data. An additional 309 probable cases — down three from the last report — have been reported in Whatcom County during the pandemic, resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
The COVID-related death reported Friday was the second such death reported this week. No information about the person, such as gender, age or hometown was reported.
During the pandemic, 1.1% of Whatcom’s 8,424 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 33.9, up from an average of 29.6 one week earlier (April 17-23).
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:
▪ 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 183.8 from April 9-22, according to the latest update of the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard on Friday, meaning Whatcom is currently making the goal.
▪ 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 nine COVID-related hospitalizations (or 3.99 per 100,000 residents) from April 13-19 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 County has had 371 hospitalizations reported during the pandemic. Those include 17 active hospitalizations Saturday reported by St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, which was down three from the last report.
Whatcom vaccination update
Friday’s vaccination report said that Whatcom County has administered 141,816 doses — up 1.03% (4,723 vaccinations) from the last report. That was slightly ahead of the state’s 1.027% 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 show:
▪ 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 ninth-most doses of the 39 counties in the state.
▪ The state estimates 43.83% of Whatcom County residents have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine — ninth-highest in the state and ahead of the statewide average of 42.45%. The state reports 99,926 people in Whatcom County have initiated vaccination — an increase of 2,106 from the last report.
▪ The state estimates 30.91% of Whatcom County residents are fully vaccinated — ninth-highest in the state and ahead of the statewide average of 29.87%. The state reports 70,479 people in Whatcom County are fully vaccinated — an increase of 2,682 from the last report.
▪ Based on 2019 five-year population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Whatcom County has administered 0.64 doses of vaccine per resident — behind the overall state average of 0.73 doses per person.
▪ Statewide, there have been 5,394,469 vaccine doses administered — up 146,408 from the last report. So far, 3,249,976 residents have initiated vaccination and 2,287,018 have completed it.
Long-term care update
Whatcom County had two new cases but no new related death associated with its long-term care facilities, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s latest COVID-19 Long-Term Care Report.
According to the report, which was released Thursday and reflected data through Monday, April 26, Whatcom County long-term care facilities have had 353 confirmed cases during the pandemic. The number of COVID-related deaths in Whatcom’s long-term care facilities remained 46, according to the state’s data.
The 353 cases mean that long-term care facilities had 4.4% of the 7,960 overall cases reported in Whatcom County by Monday, while the 46 related deaths represent 50.5% of the county’s death total (89).
Statewide, long-term care facilities have been associated with 20,152 cases (5% of the state’s total cases) and 2,656 related deaths (49% of the state’s death total).
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Friday evening:
▪ The U.S. has more than 32.34 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 575,901 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 150.95 million reported cases and 3.17 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Friday evening:
▪ 373,406 confirmed cases, up 1,144 from the last report.
▪ 29,634 probable cases, up 178 from the last report.
▪ 22,236 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 42 from the last report.
▪ 6,527,751 total molecular tests, up 19,599 from the last report.
▪ 5,499 deaths related to COVID-19, up 12 from the last report.
This story was originally published May 1, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
