Another triple-digit COVID case weekend in Whatcom, plus two more deaths
Whatcom County continued with triple-digital weekend COVID-19 case numbers, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard on Monday, Sept. 27.
With 183 new confirmed cases reported over the weekend, Whatcom’s pandemic total increased to 13,388.
An additional 1,001 probable cases — resulting from a positive antigen test not confirmed by a molecular test — have been reported during the pandemic, according to the state, which was an increase of 18 from numbers released Friday, Sept. 24.
With two new deaths related to COVID on Friday, Whatcom County has now seen 134 deaths during the pandemic.
Other Whatcom County COVID data shows:
▪ St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported Tuesday, Sept. 28, that it was treating 24 patients who have tested positive for COVID-19, up two from 22 on Monday. It treated 25 on Sunday, Sept. 26, and 28 on Saturday, Sept. 25.
▪ The state Monday reported 701 hospitalizations in Whatcom County during the pandemic, up seven from Friday.
▪ The state’s vaccination report on Monday showed the county has now administered 255,406 vaccine doses. The state estimated that 64.8% of the total population in the county had initiated vaccination and 59.1% had completed it. Both percentages were ahead of the averages across the state, which reported that 63.0% of the state’s total population initiated vaccination and 57.5% are fully vaccinated.
▪ The state has stopped updating the number of completed tests until Oct. 31 as it works “to increase its capacity to process the increased testing data volume received in the last few months.”
▪ The CDC’s COVID Data Tracker on Monday continued to list the level of transmission in Whatcom County as “High” (the highest of four classifications). All 39 counties in Washington state are listed in the “High” category.
▪ Western Washington University reported in its Monday newsletter that 96% of registered students are fully vaccinated. Also, 92% of WWU’s employees report they are fully vaccinated. Western’s permanent employees, who make up more than 75% of the staff, have reached a verified 95% vaccination rate.
