Whatcom sees 5 COVID hospitalizations and a death, as vaccine allotment continues to drop
While COVID-19 case numbers remained relatively steady in Whatcom County on Tuesday, the area saw its hospitalization and death totals increase.
Whatcom had five COVID-related hospitalizations and one death reported by Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard on Tuesday, May 18, while its total number of confirmed cases during the pandemic increased by 24.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 8,707 confirmed cases, 408 hospitalizations and 96 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data. An additional 351 probable cases — up six 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 24 new cases reported Monday, Whatcom County’s daily average of new reported cases over the past week decreased to 26.4, according to an analysis by The Bellingham Herald, lower than the 40.0 average from one week earlier (May 5-11).
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 19 COVID-related patients on Wednesday — up one from Tuesday.
The COVID-related death reported Tuesday was for a person who first tested positive for COVID-19 on April 25, according to the state’s epidemiological curves, meaning Whatcom County has had four people who first tested positive in April die. So far there have been two in May.
No other information about the people who died, such as gender, age or hometown was reported.
During the pandemic, 1.1% of Whatcom’s 9,058 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.3% average of total cases.
On Tuesday, all counties throughout the state returned to Phase 3 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Healthy Washington — Roadmap to Recovery plan. Additionally, Inslee announced Thursday, May 13, that the state will fully reopen by June 30 — earlier if 70% of all residents 16 and older initiate vaccination.
Monday’s vaccination report showed Whatcom County has administered 169,276 vaccine doses and estimated that 58.59% of the county’s residents 16 and older have initiated vaccination, while 46.94% have completed it. Statewide, those averages were 58.83% initiating vaccination and 46.78% completing it.
Though Inslee’s announcement Thursday means data other than vaccinations is no longer measured in the reopening plan, Whatcom County would still be failing both metrics the state previously used to determine if it would stay in Phase 3.
▪ The county has an infection rate of 231.6 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents between April 27 and May 10 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 88 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents from May 1-7, 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 vaccine allocation
In a sign that fewer Whatcom County residents are looking to get vaccinated, the county is expecting its shipment of initial COVID vaccine doses from the Washington State Department of Health this week to drop by more than two-thirds compared to what it received last week, according to the latest vaccine update from the Whatcom County Health Department Tuesday.
Additionally, the number of second doses is expected to drop by nearly a third.
Last week, providers in the county administered 8,860 initial doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the health department release. That total included 1,870 from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s allocation to the state Department of Health.
This week the CDC total is expecting the allocation from the state to drop to 600 initial doses — down 68.9% from last week.
An additional 2,640 second doses are expected this week — down 31.3% from last week’s allocation of 3,840 doses — according to the county’s vaccine update.
Tuesday’s report also said that the county will be transitioning to allocation by demand, instead of based on population.
“There are still many appointments available from a variety of clinics throughout the county. It’s super easy and convenient to get vaccinated right now, and the more people that get vaccinated, the sooner we can fully reopen,” the report stated.
Based on the latest vaccination report from the state, 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 to reach 70% of all residents 16 and older initiating vaccination.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Wednesday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 32.9 million reported cases, more than 587,000 deaths and 275.0 million vaccine doses administered — all most of any nation.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 164.3 million reported cases, 3.4 million deaths and 1.5 billion vaccine doses administered.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Tuesday evening:
▪ 391,188 confirmed cases, up 558 from the last report.
▪ 32,862 probable cases, down 110 from the last report.
▪ 23,370 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 93 from the last report.
▪ 6,837,690 total molecular tests, up 17,839 from the last report.
▪ 5,653 deaths related to COVID-19, up 13 from the last report.
This story was originally published May 19, 2021 at 9:01 AM.
