Whatcom County sees 16 new COVID-19 cases as local hospitalizations match record high
Whatcom County saw 16 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the latest update on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Monday, June 7.
Overall, the state reports Whatcom County has seen 9,220 confirmed cases, 451 hospitalizations — up 21 in the last seven days — and 99 related deaths during the pandemic. An additional 397 probable cases have been reported in Whatcom County during the pandemic, resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 31 COVID-related patients on Monday and Tuesday, June 8 — matching the record high set Jan. 29. None of the patients, ranging in age from 40 to 70, were vaccinated for COVID-19, according to PeaceHealth spokesperson Bev Mayhew.
The state vaccination report Monday showed Whatcom County has administered 208,821 vaccine doses and estimated that 66.31% of the county’s residents 16 and older have initiated vaccination, while 58.22% have completed it.
The state confirmed Monday that 4,700 vaccinations by Lummi Tribal Health were added to state records on Friday, June 4. The county estimated that would mean 67% of county residents aged 16 and older are known to be vaccinated.
The state reported Monday that 63.66% of Washington residents aged 16 and older have initiated vaccination and 55.65% have completed 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% goal isn’t met, the governor on Thursday, June 3, said the state will still reopen, though he’d prefer it with more vaccinated.
Though data other than vaccinations is no longer measured in the reopening plan, Whatcom County would be making one of two metrics the state previously used to determine if it would stay in Phase 3.
▪ The county has an infection rate of 86.49 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents between May 17-30, 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 5.3 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents from May 21-27, according to The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of the state epidemiological data, meaning Whatcom would have missed 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 6,960 more residents 16 and older to initiate vaccination to reach 70% of the eligible population. In the last seven days of data, including the addition of 4,700 from Lummi Health on June 4, an average of 900 Whatcom County residents per day initiated vaccination. At that rate, it would take the county until June 13 (about 8 days) to reach 70% of all residents 16 and older initiating vaccination. It should take the state until July 11 to reach 70% vaccination at its current daily rate.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Monday evening:
▪ The U.S. has more than 33.376 million reported cases, more than 597,938 deaths — both most of any nation — and 302.43 million vaccine doses administered, second only to China, which reports 777.87 million.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 173.52 million reported cases, 3.73 million deaths and 2.13 billion vaccine doses administered.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Monday evening:
▪ 405,920 confirmed cases, up 746 from the last report.
▪ 34,969 probable cases, up 86 from the last report.
▪ 24,535 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 70 from the last report.
▪ 7,283,239 total molecular tests, up 33,841 from the last report.
▪ 5,856 deaths related to COVID-19, up 20 from the last report.
This story was originally published June 8, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
