Number of COVID patients at Bellingham hospital decreases by half over holiday weekend
The number of COVID-related patients being treated by St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham shrank by half over the holiday weekend.
The hospital reported that it was treating 10 patients for COVID-related symptoms on Tuesday, June 21, its lowest daily snapshot since it had a four-day string of single-digit patient loads in late May (May 27-30).
It’s also less than half the 21 COVID-related patients it reported on Thursday, June 16, and the 20 it reported on Friday.
Over the past week, the hospital has averaged reporting 16.9 patients per day, which represents 6.7% of its 252 inpatient beds and was down from the 19.3 average from one week earlier (June 7-13).
Here is Whatcom County’s latest COVID data for Whatcom County reported Friday, June 17, the Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 Data Dashboard:
▪ 42,168 cases during the pandemic, including 36,856 confirmed cases and 5,312 probable cases, resulting from a positive antigen test not confirmed by a molecular test. A total of 481 new cases were reported in the county last week. Whatcom had a weekly infection rate of 257 new COVID cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data from June 1-7, which was up from a rate of 219 one week earlier (May 25-31).
▪ 1,668 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic, including 22 hospitalizations reported last week. Whatcom has a weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 8.3 new patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data from June 1-7, which was up from 6.1 one week earlier (May 25-31).
▪ 308 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic, including two reported last week. Approximately 0.7% of all COVID cases in Whatcom County during the pandemic have resulted in death.
▪ 16.6% of the 3,700 COVID tests in Whatcom County reported to the state between May 31 and June 6 returned a positive result. That was up from the 15.8% of the 3,169 tests results reported a week earlier (May 24-30).
▪ 397,897 COVID vaccinations have been administered within the county, with 69.3% of all Whatcom County residents (158,074 people) completing an initial vaccination series. Of those eligible to receive a booster, 61.6% (91,686 people) have done so.
