New health department data shows where coronavirus rate is highest in Whatcom County
All areas of Whatcom County have seen confirmed cases of COVD-19, according to new data released by the Whatcom County Health Department Sunday night, May 17, but two rural areas have seen substantially lower incidents of coronavirus.
“What the map does show us is that the virus is present everywhere in our county, and we should all take precautions to protect ourselves and prevent spreading it to others, no matter where we live or work,” the release stated.
Residents who live within the boundaries of the Nooksack Valley and Meridian school districts are seeing fewer than 100 confirmed COVD-19 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the county health department data that was updated Thursday, May 14.
“We prefer to use rates to compare across geographies because they factor in different population sizes and demographics,” the health department said in a release about the new data. “A case count of 30 people is very different in a community of 1,000 people than it is in a community of 50,000. Using a rate helps us assess the differences using a fair comparison between groups.”
The Nooksack Valley School District region has seen 10 cases during the pandemic, meaning a rate of only 90 per 100,000 people have been diagnosed with the respiratory illness. The Meridian region is right behind, also with 10 confirmed cases, but with a rate of 93 cases per 100,000.
The Bellingham school district region — the largest by population — has the highest rate, with a rate of 173 cases per 100,000 residents. As of Thursday, 195 residents in that region — more than 56% of Whatcom County’s total positive test results at the time — had been diagnosed.
The Blaine School District region wasn’t far behind with a rate of 171 cases per 100,000 residents, though it has only had 30 confirmed cases. The Lynden School District region also had 30 COVID-19 cases, which gave it a rate of 148, while the Ferndale School District region had 49 positive tests and a rate of 146.
The Mount Baker School District region had 22 confirmed cases and a rate of 139 per 100,000 residents.
“When looking at data by sub-county location, we often use public school districts to define community boundaries,” the health department said in a release about the new data release. “We do this because many people tend to identify their community in connection to schools and school districts.”
The health department said in the release that it doesn’t use zip codes, because they don’t align well with where many people live and census tracts are too small and may not allow for the protection of patient privacy.
The health department also cautioned that areas with lower rates are not necessarily “safer zones,” as it does not show where people may have traveled or been exposed to infection.
The health department, which has already been releasing the number of confirmed cases and deaths by age and gender, said it would update the geographic information periodically, but not weekly.
Coronavirus by race and ethnicity
The health department also began releasing data by race and ethnicity, though some of the data had to be suppressed due to too few cases in some categories.
“Although there is still much to learn about COVID-19, current Whatcom County data show a disproportionate impact for some populations: people of Hispanic ethnicity and for American Indian/Alaska Native people,” the health department said in the release. “National and state data also show that people of color are hurt more by the effects of COVID-19, physically, socially and economically.
“Our 2018 Community Health Assessment found that many factors contribute to higher health risks and poorer health outcomes in specific populations. These factors include living and working conditions, underlying health conditions, income and wealth, and access to quality health care. The COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted long-standing inequities and provides an urgent opportunity to address them.”
Data was not provided for Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander or black in Whatcom County, though combined those races and ethnicity comprise only 7% of the county’s population.
According to the health department data, 73% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Whatcom County are white, though 82% of the county’s population identifies as white.
Meanwhile, 11% of confirmed cases are for residents who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, though those races and ethnicities represent only 3% of the county’s population. Hispanics represent 15% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county, though 9% of the county identifies as Hispanic.
The remaining 5% of the county’s coronavirus cases were listed as “other” in the health department’s data.
The health department said in the release that at least 80% of the confirmed cases must include race or ethnicity to provide meaningful analysis, and that barrier was just reached last week. Most laboratory systems do not require that race and ethnicity data be collected, but the health department said it has begun proactively collecting information in disease investigations.
This story was originally published May 18, 2020 at 9:07 AM.
