Only 2 Whatcom regions see COVID infection rates decrease, while state rolls back data
Only two of Whatcom County’s seven school district regions saw their infection rates decrease last week, according to data released by the Whatcom County Health Department.
The health department releases data on the location of COVID-19 positive tests by school district and, published new data on its website Monday, Sept. 21, with new data through Sept. 19.
The Lynden and Nooksack Valley regions were the only regions in the county that saw their infection rates per 100,000 residents over the past 14 days go down, though three others were unchanged.
Here is what the latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:
Bellingham: Up 5.3% (26 cases) since Sept. 14 to 513 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days stayed at 38.
Blaine: Up 5.8% (four cases) since Sept. 14 to 73 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 11 to 28.
Ferndale: Up 4.1% (10 cases) since Sept. 14 to 256 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 93 to 102.
Lynden: Up 0.6% (one case) since Sept. 14 to 179 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 64 to 59.
Meridian: Up 1.0% (one case) since Sept. 14 to 98 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days stayed at nine.
Mount Baker: Up 3.5% (two cases) since Sept. 14 to 59 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days stayed at 32.
Nooksack Valley: Up .4% (three cases) since Sept. 14 to 71 total cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 decreased from 54 to 36.
Race and ethnicity data
The percentage of Whatcom County COVID-19 cases impacting people identifying as races and ethnicities other than white continued to grow last week, according to the latest data released by the Whatcom County Health Department Monday.
The percentage of cases impacting non-Hispanic white people in Whatcom County dropped by half a percentage point last week, according to the new data.
Here is what the latest data through Sept. 21 shows:
▪ White, non-Hispanic: 56.7% of cases, down from 57.2% on Sept. 14 (represents 78.7% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Hispanic: 30.3% of cases, up from 29.9% on Sept. 14 (represents 9.5% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic: 5.0% of cases, down from 5.1% on Sept. 14 (represents 2.5% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Asian, non-Hispanic: 2.3% of cases, unchanged from Sept. 14 (represents 4.3% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Multiracial, non-Hispanic: 2.2% of cases, up from 2.1% on Sept. 14 (represents 3.6% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Other race, non-Hispanic: 2.2% of cases, down from 2.4% on Sept. 14 (represents 0.0% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic: Suppressed (represents 0.3% of Whatcom’s total population).
▪ Black, non-Hispanic: Suppressed (represents 1.0% of Whatcom’s total population.
Approximately 16% of all cases do not have a known race or ethnicity.
Monday’s state data removed
After announcing five more Whatcom County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, Sept. 21, the Washington State Department of Health rolled back the data it released Monday after it “discovered incorrect data,” according to a release late Monday.
Because of that data inaccuracy, the state reverted to the data released Sunday, Sept. 22, in which Whatcom 1,264 positive cases, 97 hospitalizations, 40 deaths and 57,789 total tests.
The state also announced that it rolled back the data it released on its Risk Assessment Dashboard, meaning data was last reported for data as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, and showed Whatcom County missing two of four Phase 2 metrics goals.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target rate of fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents every 14 days with a rate of 38.2.
▪ Whatcom had an average COVID-19 testing rate per 100,000 people over a week of 165.7. No goal was stated for this metric, however, the overall statewide number was 143.6.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of 2% or less of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week with a rate of 1.4%.
▪ Whatcom is missing the target of less than 80% of all licensed hospital beds occupied by non-COVID-19 patients with 80.8% reported by the state.
▪ Whatcom is making the target of less than 10% of all licensed hospital beds being occupied by COVID-19 patients with 2.7% reported by the state.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported to The Bellingham Herald on Monday that it was treating three patients.
Numbers elsewhere
COVID-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Monday afternoon:
▪ The U.S. has more than 6.83 million reported cases, the most of any nations, and 199,756 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 31.1 million reported cases and 962,232 deaths.
In Washington state, the Department of Health reported Sunday afternoon:
▪ 82,548 reported cases, an increase of 349 from Saturday.
▪ 7,262 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, an increase of 14 from Saturday.
▪ 1,736,556 tests recorded, an increase of 13,516 from Saturday.
▪ 2,037 deaths reported on Friday, indicating 2.5% of people with confirmed cases have died. The state does not report deaths on the weekends.
Phased reopening
Gov. Inslee July 28 extended the pause indefinitely on counties moving ahead in the Safe Start Washington plan.
Five counties remain in a modified version of Phase 1, 17 counties — including Whatcom — are in Phase 2 and 17 counties are in Phase 3.
This story was originally published September 21, 2020 at 4:06 PM.
