Whatcom sees 16 new COVID-19 cases Friday, variant cases up by 87 last week
Whatcom County saw 16 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard Friday, June 18, and no related deaths were reported.
Overall, the state reports Whatcom County has seen 9,387 confirmed cases, 466 hospitalizations and 103 related deaths during the pandemic. An additional 410 probable cases — up one from the last report — have been reported in Whatcom County during the pandemic, resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
The state reports that 1.1% of Whatcom’s 9,780 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.3% average.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating four patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, June 19, down one from the previous report.
With the 16 new reported cases, Whatcom County’s daily average of reported cases increased to 13.0 over the past week, and that was down from the 15.1 average from one week earlier (June 5-11).
The county’s infection rate was 125.4 cases per 100,000 residents, based on the most recent complete data between May 28 and June 10, according to the state’s Risk Assessment dashboard. The county also averaged 8.4 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents between June 1 and June 7 according to analysis by The Bellingham Herald of the latest complete hospitalization data on the state’s epidemiological curves
The state’s vaccination report on Friday showed Whatcom County has administered 219,353 vaccine doses and estimated that 68.1% of the county’s residents 16 and older have initiated vaccination, while 61.1% have completed it.
Both percentages match the state, which reported it has administered 7,586,602 doses.
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 state will still reopen, the governor said June 3.
COVID variant update
Whatcom County saw its number of confirmed COVID-19 variant cases increase by 87 last week, according to the latest SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing and Variants report by the Washington State Department of Health released Thursday.
Whatcom County has at least one case of seven of the nine variants currently being tracked in Washington state.
Since its first confirmed variant case was reported Feb. 23, Whatcom has had a total of 382 variant cases through June 15, which accounts for 13.19% of Whatcom’s 2,897 cases reported since then and 4.09% of Whatcom’s pandemic total of 9,331 cases, according to analysis by The Herald.
Whatcom’s most noticeable increase last was the P.1 Gamma (Brazil) variant — also known as the Gamma variant — which increased nearly 50% in a single week. The variant, which is believed to spread easier, now accounts for 3.14% of all Whatcom cases since Feb. 23.
“At this time, we’re watching local and state increases in the Gamma variant carefully,” Whatcom County Health Officer Dr. Greg Stern told The Herald in an email. “But evidence suggests that despite some variants having a reduced response to neutralizing antibodies, the three currently available vaccines are still very effective in reducing hospitalization and deaths from COVID-19 in cases due to the circulating variants.”
Earlier this week, state epidemiologist Dr. Scott Lindquist expressed concern with the higher hospitalization rates and increased breakthrough cases.
“I’m very concerned about the role this one is going to take,” Linquist told The Seattle Times. “That is exactly what keeps me up at night.”
Whatcom County still has not had any confirmed cases of the Delta variant (B.1.617 or India variant), which Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky told ABC’s Good Morning America Friday could become the dominant variant in the U.S. because it is more contagious.
““We are concerned about all variant detections,” Stern wrote, adding that the Whatcom County Health Department defers to the CDC and Depart of Health for assessment of the impact variants have on hospitalization and breakthrough rates and make changes for Whatcom County based on their recommendations.
“We assume that we have or will have similar variants detected in Whatcom County that are being detected within our region,” Stern continued. “Variants that are more transmissible increase the risk of infection, including breakthrough infection, and those that produce more severe disease increase the risk of hospitalization, death, or long-term consequences.”
The state’s most recent variants report for Whatcom County showed:
▪ 50 new B.1.1.7 Alpha (United Kingdom) variant cases — 254 total.
▪ No new B.1.351 (South Africa) variant cases — one total.
▪ 29 new P.1 (Brazil) variant cases — 91 total.
▪ No new B.1.427 (California) variant cases — five total.
▪ Five new B.1.429 (California) variant cases — 21 total.
▪ Three new B.1.526 (New York) variant case — eight total.
▪ No new B.1.525 (New York) variant cases — two total.
▪ No cases of the P.2 Gamma (Brazil) and B.1.617 Delta (India) variants have been reported in Whatcom County.
“Because no vaccine is 100% effective, we expect that some vaccinated persons will become infected and even hospitalized, but at much lower rates than those who are not vaccinated,” Stern wrote. “The numbers are relatively low in Whatcom County.”
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Friday evening:
▪ The U.S. has more than 33.519 million reported cases, more than 601,282 deaths — both most of any nation — and 315.645 million vaccine doses administered.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 177.7 million reported cases, 3.849 million deaths and 2.527 billion vaccine doses administered.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Thursday evening:
▪ 410,659 confirmed cases, up 464 from the last report.
▪ 36,023 probable cases, up 94 from the last report.
▪ 24,971 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 41 from the last report.
▪ 7,403,957 total molecular tests, up 11,344 from the last report.
▪ 5,820 deaths related to COVID-19, up 10 from the last report.
This story was originally published June 19, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
