Whatcom has 4th-highest weekly hospitalization rate of WA counties; records another death

Whatcom County saw one new COVID-related death and 144 news cases reported by the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard on Monday, Dec. 6, despite state data for new cases, deaths and hospitalizations being incomplete due to a technical issue.

No other information about the person who died, such as their age, gender, vaccination status or hometown, was reported.

Other Whatcom County COVID data shows that:

▪ With 144 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported Monday, Whatcom County has had a pandemic total of 17,213 cases.

▪ Whatcom saw an additional 14 probable cases reported Monday, resulting from a positive antigen test not confirmed by a molecular test, bringing its pandemic total to 1,484 probable cases.

▪ With four COVID-related hospitalizations reported Monday, Whatcom has seen 959 hospitalizations reported during the pandemic.

▪ Whatcom’s weekly hospitalization rate stands at 9.2 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed data from Nov. 19-25. Whatcom has the fourth-highest weekly hospitalization rate of the 39 counties in the state, according to the state dashboard.

▪ 307,761 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 3,531 from the last report. The state reports 68.3% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 63.0% has completed it.

▪ St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported that it was treating 28 patients for COVID-related symptoms on Tuesday, Dec. 7, which is down four from the last report.

The CDC’s COVID Data Tracker on Tuesday continued to list the level of transmission in Whatcom County as “High” (the highest of four classifications). All 39 Washington state’s 39 counties, except for Ferry County, are listed in the “High” category.

Jail outbreak update

Another two people incarcerated at the Whatcom County Jail have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Tuesday, according to Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Chief of Corrections Wendy Jones.

The downtown jail has been dealing with a coronavirus outbreak since Nov. 23, when staff members were alerted that a person incarcerated in the jail was reporting symptoms that could be the coronavirus, The Bellingham Herald previously reported.

Twenty-seven inmates were moved into quarantine and are being tested regularly, Jones said. The testing will continue until each person is cleared by medical staff, she said.

The two additional people who tested positive recently were in quarantine, Jones said.

Since the start of the outbreak, 13 people incarcerated in the jail and two contract jail staff have tested positive for the coronavirus, Jones said.

— Denver Pratt, dpratt@bhamherald.com.