Whatcom sees smallest COVID case increase in 4 weeks, but Bellingham schools see incidents
On the day before every county in the state will return to Phase 3 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Healthy Washington — Roadmap to Recovery plan, Whatcom County began showing signs that it is emerging from its fourth wave during the pandemic.
Whatcom had 21 new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported Monday, May 17, on Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard — the county’s smallest reported increase in four weeks since its total increased by two on April 19.
Additionally, Whatcom had no new COVID-related hospitalizations or deaths reported by the state over the weekend.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 8,683 confirmed cases, 403 hospitalizations and 95 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data. An additional 345 probable cases — up 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.
With the 21 new cases reported Monday, Whatcom County’s daily average of new reported cases over the past week decreased to 29.6, according to analysis by The Bellingham Herald, lower than the 39.9 average from one week earlier (May 4-10).
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 18 COVID-related patients on Tuesday — up two from Monday.
Gov. Jay Inslee announced on Thursday, May 13, that all counties will return to Phase 3 of the state’s recovery plan on Tuesday, May 18, and that the state will fully reopen by June 30 — earlier if 70% of all residents 16 and older initiate vaccination.
Though Inslee’s announcement means data other than vaccinations no longer matter in the reopening plan, Whatcom County would still be failing both metrics the state was previously used to determine if it would stay in Phase 3.
▪ The county has an infection rate of 233.8 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents between April 26 and May 9 according to the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard, meaning Whatcom would have failed to meet the state guideline of 200 to remain in Phase 3.
▪ The county averaged 8.3 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents between April 30 and May 6, according to The Herald’s analysis of the state epidemiological data, meaning Whatcom would have failed to meet the state guideline of 5.0 to remain in Phase 3.
Whatcom vaccination update
Monday’s vaccination report said that Whatcom County has administered 169,276 doses — up 3.21% (5,264 doses) from the last report. That was ahead of the state’s 3.02% 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 Herald show:
▪ The state estimates 58.59% of eligible Whatcom County residents (those 16 and older) have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine — seventh-highest in the state. Whatcom County is the ninth-most populated county in Washington state with approximately 3% of the state’s total population, according to 2019 U.S. Census estimates. The state reports 110,468 people in Whatcom County have initiated vaccination — an increase of 1,512 from the last report.
▪ Based on the latest report, The Herald estimates Whatcom County still needs 21,611 more residents 16 and older to initiate vaccination to reach 70% of the eligible population. In the last seven days of data, an average of 477 Whatcom County residents per day initiated vaccination. At that rate, it would take the county until June 29 (slightly more than 45 days) to reach 70% of all residents 16 and older initiating vaccination.
▪ The state estimates 46.94% of eligible Whatcom County residents (those 16 and older) are fully vaccinated — eighth-highest in the state. The state reports 88,496 people in Whatcom County are fully vaccinated — an increase of 3,461 from the last report.
▪ Statewide, there have been 6,337,924 vaccine doses administered — up 185,833 from the last report. So far, 3,614,513 residents (58.83% of all eligible residents in the state) have initiated vaccination and 2,874,192 (46.78%) have completed it. Based on the latest data, The Herald estimates it will take the state until June 24 to reach the goal of 70% of all residents 16 and older initiating vaccination at its current seven-day average of 17,267 people per day initiating vaccination.
Bellingham schools report cases
Bellingham Public Schools reported on its dashboard Monday that it had four new COVID-19 incidents in its schools last week. The school district reported a total of eight new incidents last week, including incidents previously reported at Squalicum and Bellingham high schools and two at Sunnyland Elementary School.
The four reported Monday included:
▪ A case reported at Kulshan Middle School required select contacts return to remote learning or quarantine with an expected return date of May 27.
▪ A case reported at Shuksan Middle School required select contacts return to remote learning or quarantine with an expected return date of May 28.
▪ A case reported at Parkview Elementary required one class return to remote learning with an expected return date of May 28.
▪ A case reported at Roosevelt Elementary required one class return to remote learning with an expected return date of May 28.
The district now has had 45 incidents and 49 reported cases since it began returning to in-person learning. All 45 incidents required at least select contacts return to remote learning or quarantine.
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 32.9 million reported cases, more than 586,000 deaths and 273.8 million vaccine doses administered — all most of any nation.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 163.7 million reported cases, 3.3 million deaths and 1.5 billion vaccine doses administered.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Monday evening:
▪ 390,630 confirmed cases, up 748 from the last report.
▪ 32,752 probable cases, down 31 from the last report.
▪ 23,277 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 90 from the last report.
▪ 6,819,851 total molecular tests, up 29,188 from the last report.
▪ 5,640 deaths related to COVID-19, up 18 from the last report.
