As state celebrates reopening, Whatcom sees 10 new confirmed COVID-19 cases Tuesday
On the day before Washington state officially reopened from pandemic restrictions, Whatcom County saw 10 new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported Tuesday, June 29, on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard. The county also had one COVID-related hospitalization reported, but no new deaths.
“Because folks listened to science and stayed home to stay healthy, wore masks and got vaccinated, we can now safely fully re-open our state’s economy and cultural centers after 15 long months,” Gov. Jay Inslee said Tuesday in a statement about fully reopening the state’s economy and cultural centers. “It hasn’t been easy, but I’m proud of how Washingtonians came together, persevered and sacrificed to fight this virus, and now we’re finally in a place that is safe enough to end this chapter.
“Even though Wednesday marks a new stage in our continued efforts to defeat this pandemic, we still have work to do. Continued success depends on everyone getting vaccinated and encouraging any loved one who has not yet received this lifesaving vaccine to do so, and quickly.”
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 9,480 confirmed cases, 476 hospitalizations and 103 related deaths during the pandemic, according to the dashboard. An additional 425 probable cases — up two from the last report — have been reported in Whatcom County during the pandemic, resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
Whatcom’s infection rate stood at 78.5, according to the state’s Risk Assessment dashboard — its lowest mark since it had a rate of 71.0 on Nov. 19 — based on the state’s most recent complete epidemiological data between June 8 and 21.
With the 10 new cases reported Tuesday, Whatcom’s daily average of reported cases decreased to 7.6 over the past week, and that was down from the 13.7 average from one week earlier (June 16-22). The average was last that low in early November, 2020.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating eight patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, down one from the previous report.
The county averaged 1.8 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents between June 12-18, according to analysis by The Bellingham Herald of the latest complete hospitalization data on the state’s epidemiological curves
When are masks still required?
Washington fully reopened Wednesday, but some people will be required to continue wearing masks.
The Governor’s Office has confirmed the state will lift the mask requirement after 13 months for people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, but unvaccinated Washingtonians are required to continue to wear masks or other face coverings until further notice.
Fully vaccinated is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as two weeks from the second shot of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or from the single shot of Johnson & Johnson.
Businesses have the right to continue to require masks, and the lifting of the mask mandate does not apply to schools, medical offices, hospitals, long-term care, homeless shelters and correctional facilities. Some transit agencies also will continue to require masks.
— Josephine Peterson, jhpeterson@thenewstribune.com
Whatcom pop-up vaccine clinics
The Whatcom County Health Department’s latest vaccine update Tuesday said that it will host three more pop-up vaccine clinics this week:
▪ 1-3 p.m. Thursday, July 1, at 360 Modular (5530 Nordic Place in Ferndale) — Moderna vaccine will be available.
▪ 6-8 p.m. Thursday, July 1, at Twin Sisters Brewing (500 Carolina St. in Bellingham) — Moderna vaccine will be available.
▪ 3-6 p.m. Friday, July 2, at the old Lynden Middle School gym (516 Main St. in Lynden) — the vaccine type is still to be determined, and COVID-19 testing will be available.
While walk-ins are welcome at all three clinics, online pre-registration is available and recommended for the 360 Modular and Twin Sisters Brewing clinics through prepmod.doh.wa/gov.
The state’s vaccination report on Monday showed the county has now administered 225,214 vaccine doses and estimated that 69.2% of the county’s residents 16 and older have initiated vaccination, while 62.8% have completed it.
“We’re doing really well relative to the rest of the state, placing fourth for both vaccinations initiated and completed at the population level, behind only San Juan, Jefferson, and King counties,” the update read. “Hundreds of people are still getting vaccinated every day in our county. Keep it up, Whatcom!”
Long-term care update
Whatcom County had no new COVID-19 cases or related deaths associated with its long-term care facilities last week, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s latest COVID-19 Long-Term Care Report.
According to the report, which was released Tuesday and reflected data through Monday, June 28, Whatcom County long-term care facilities have had 383 confirmed cases during the pandemic. The number of COVID-related deaths related to Whatcom’s long-term care facilities remained at 48, according to the state’s data.
The 383 cases mean that long-term care facilities had 4.0% of the total cases reported in Whatcom County as of Monday, while the 48 related deaths represent 46.6% of the county’s death total.
Statewide, long-term care facilities have been associated with 20,712 cases (5% of the state’s total cases) and 2,661 related deaths (45% of the state’s death total).
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Wednesday morning:
▪ The U.S. has more than 33.6 million reported cases, more than 604,000 deaths — both most of any nation — and 324.7 million vaccine doses administered.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 181.9 million reported cases, 3.9 million deaths and 3.0 billion vaccine doses administered.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Tuesday afternoon:
▪ 414,509 confirmed cases, up 260 from the last report.
▪ 36,739 probable cases, up 58 from the last report.
▪ 25,455 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 31 from the last report.
▪ 7,555,953 total molecular tests, up 17,054 from the last report.
▪ 5,920 deaths related to COVID-19, up nine from the last report.
This story was originally published June 30, 2021 at 9:20 AM.
