Whatcom still missing both goals for Phase 3, as county sees 53 new COVID cases Monday
Approximately one week from the next evaluation date to determine if it will be allowed to remain in Phase 3 or be forced to roll back to stricter COVID-19 measures, Whatcom County is missing both of the state’s metrics in its Healthy Washington — Roadmap to Recovery plan.
Gov. Jay Inslee on May 4 announced a two-week pause to any phase movement, allowing all counties to stay in their current phase until the next evaluation date, which should be early next week.
Whatcom County is currently in Phase 3, but it must make at least one of two data-driven goals set by the state on the next evaluation date in order to stay there:
▪ 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 213.2 from April 19 to May 2, according to the latest update of the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard. That means Whatcom is currently missing 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 in seven days. Whatcom had 18 COVID-related hospitalizations from April 23-29 according to the state’s epidemiological curves. That means Whatcom is averaging 7.9 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents over the past week of completed data, according to data analysis by The Bellingham Herald, and it is therefore missing the goal. Whatcom County’s rate during the last evaluation period (March 24-30) was 1.3.
Whatcom County saw 53 new COVID-19 cases reported Monday, May 10, on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard, but no new COVID-related deaths or hospitalizations were reported.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 8,476 confirmed cases, 393 hospitalizations and 92 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data. An additional 332 probable cases — up five from the last report — have been reported in Whatcom County during the pandemic, resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
Whatcom County’s daily average of newly reported cases the past seven days is 39.9, up from an average of 33.9 one week earlier (April 27 to May 3).
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 19 COVID-related patients on Tuesday — down one from Monday.
Whatcom vaccination update
Monday’s vaccination report said that Whatcom County has administered 158,917 doses — up 4.23% (6,451 doses) from the last report. That was ahead of the state’s 3.48% 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 56.82% of eligible Whatcom County residents (those 16 and older) have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine — sixth-highest in the state. The state reports 107,130 people in Whatcom County have initiated vaccination — an increase of 2,387 from the last report.
▪ The state estimates 43.18% of eligible Whatcom County residents (those 16 and older) are fully vaccinated — ninth-highest in the state. The state reports 81,411 people in Whatcom County are fully vaccinated — an increase of 4,441 from the last report.
▪ Based on 2019 five-year population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Whatcom County has administered 0.72 doses of vaccine per resident — 25th highest in the state and behind the overall state average of 0.81 doses per person.
▪ Statewide, there have been 5,960,719 vaccine doses administered — up 200,371 from the last report. So far, 3,493,642 residents (56.86% of all eligible residents in the state) have initiated vaccination and 2,622,640 (42.68%) have completed it.
Bellingham schools report cases
Bellingham Public Schools reported on its dashboard Monday that it had four new COVID-19 incidents in its schools, including:
▪ Two new cases reported the week of May 3-7 at Squalicum High. The incident required select contacts return to remote learning or quarantine with an expected return date of May 18.
▪ One new case reported the week of May 3-7 at Carl Cozier Elementary. The incident required one class return to remote learning with an expected return date of May 19.
▪ One new case reported the week of May 3-7 at Squalicum High. The incident required select contacts return to remote learning or quarantine with an expected return date of May 19.
▪ One new case reported the week of May 10-16 at Sunnyland Elementary. The incident required select contacts return to remote learning or quarantine with an expected return date of May 24.
The district now has had 38 incidents and 42 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.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Tuesday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 32.7 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 582,000 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 159.0 million reported cases and 3.3 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Monday evening:
▪ 384,099 confirmed cases, up 1,521 from the last report.
▪ 31,606 probable cases, up 204 from the last report.
▪ 22,866 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 68 from the last report.
▪ 6,716,121 total molecular tests, up 34,347 from the last report.
▪ 5,586 deaths related to COVID-19, up 22 from the last report.
This story was originally published May 11, 2021 at 8:30 AM.
