Whatcom sees 39 new COVID-19 cases as state, county and a grocer offer vaccine incentives
Whatcom County saw 39 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Thursday, June 3.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 9,144 confirmed cases, 441 hospitalizations and 98 related deaths during the pandemic. An additional 393 probable cases — up eight from the last report — have been reported in Whatcom County during the pandemic, resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
That means that 1.0% of Whatcom’s 9,537 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.3% average.
With the new cases, Whatcom County’s daily average of reported cases decreased to 22.6 from the 26.4 average from one week earlier.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was back to treating 20 COVID-related patients on Friday, June 4 — after a dip to 18 a day earlier.
During the pandemic, 1.0% of Whatcom’s 9,490 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.3% average of total cases.
The latest vaccination report, from Wednesday, June 2, showed Whatcom County has administered 193,767 vaccine doses and estimated that 63.01% of the county’s residents 16 and older have initiated vaccination, while 54.34% have completed it. Statewide, those averages were 62.7% initiating vaccination and 54.0% completing it.
On May 18 all counties throughout the state returned to Phase 3 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Healthy Washington — Roadmap to Recovery plan. Additionally, Inslee announced May 13 that the state will fully reopen by June 30 — earlier if 70% of all residents 16 and older initiate vaccination.
If the 70 percent goal isn’t met, the governor on Thursday said the state will still reopen, though he’d prefer it with more vaccinated.
Inslee also introduced state lottery drawings, higher education financial aid, game systems, smart speakers and tickets for sporting events and air travel incentives to nudge the most reluctant people to get vaccinated.
Though data other than vaccinations is no longer measured in the reopening plan, Whatcom County would be making both of two metrics the state previously used to determine if it would stay in Phase 3.
▪ The county has an infection rate of 198.2 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents between May 13-26, the latest data available, according to the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard, meaning Whatcom would have met the state guideline of 200 or less to remain in Phase 3.
▪ The county averaged 4.88 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents from May 17-23, according to The Herald’s analysis of the state epidemiological data, meaning Whatcom would have met the state guideline of 5.0 or less to remain in Phase 3.
▪ Based on the latest vaccination report, The Herald estimates Whatcom County still needs 13,175 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 410 Whatcom County residents per day initiated vaccination. At that rate, it would take the county until July 3 (about 32 days) to reach 70% of all residents 16 and older initiating vaccination. The average number of vaccinations dropped from 464 from the last report and is the first time the county is not on trend to be 70% vaccinated by June 30. It should take the state until July 7 to reach 70% vaccination at its current daily rate.
Whatcom vaccine incentives
Still haven’t gotten your COVID-19 shots? Would winning a new truck convince you?
Whatcom County residents who get vaccinated from June 1 to July 31 can enter a drawing for a credit of up to $60,000 for a truck from participating auto dealers, the Chuckanut Health Foundation announced Thursday.
Registration for the drawing will begin June 15. By then a website will be set up to allow people to enter.
The vehicle giveaway is a collaboration of Chuckanut Health Foundation, the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Whatcom County Health Department to increase Whatcom’s vaccination rates.
The idea for it came from Chao-ying Wu, a Family Care Network doctor and Chuckanut Health Foundation board member.
“When our community comes together in support of each other, great things can happen,” Wu said in a news release announcing the drawing. “I hope this contest will be one more good reason to go ahead and get this job done. It’s been a long and hard trip, and we are so close to wrapping this up. A really high vaccination rate means that our community can come out of the pandemic strong and ready to thrive again.”
The drawing is open to Whatcom County residents 18 years or older who initiate vaccination in the June 1 to July 31 timeline.
But the prize will be awarded only after the winner shows proof of full vaccination, which is two weeks after their last shot.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is one shot. The Pfizer and Modnera vaccines require two doses, spread 21 and 28 days apart respectively.
Proof of vaccination isn’t required to enter the drawing.
— Kie Relyea, krelyea@bhamherald.com
Stores add incentives, too
Along with the Washington state initiative to give prizes for those who get the COVID-19 vaccine shot, Kroger is offering its own prize program.
The company, which owns the Fred Meyer stores in Bellingham, is offering customers and workers the opportunity to win one of five $1 million checks. There are also 50 “groceries for a year” prizes.
The giveaway started on Thursday and runs through Saturday, July 10, with winners scheduled to be selected weekly.
Participants must be 18 years or older, have received a COVID-19 vaccine dose from a Kroger company and reside in the U.S.
To enter the giveaway and view the official rules, visit KrogerGiveaway.com.
— Dave Gallagher, dgallagher@bhamherald.com
Bellingham schools report cases
Bellingham Public Schools reported on its dashboard Thursday that it had two new COVID-19 incidents in its schools this week. The district reported 24 cases in May.
The two new reported cases included:
A case reported at Bellingham High School required select contacts return to remote learning or quarantine with an expected return date of June 9.
A case reported at Sunnyland Elementary required one class to return to remote learning or quarantine with an expected return date of June 17.
The district now has had 59 incidents and 63 reported cases since it began returning to in-person learning. All 59 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 Thursday night:
▪ The U.S. has more than 33.32 million reported cases, more than 596,395 deaths — both most of any nation — and 297.5 million vaccine doses administered, second only to China, which reports 704.8 million.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 171.96 million reported cases, 3.69 million deaths and 2.0 billion vaccine doses administered.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Wednesday evening:
▪ 403,882 confirmed cases, up 688 from the last report.
▪ 34,662 probable cases, up 179 from the last report.
▪ 24,379 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 64 from the last report.
▪ 7,210,800 total molecular tests, up 12,096 from the last report.
▪ 5,821 deaths related to COVID-19, up 20 from the last report.
This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
