COVID-19 infection rates high across Whatcom County, but two regions surge above 300
Two of Whatcom County’s seven school district regions averaged more than 300 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks — by far the highest infection rates any region within the county has seen during the pandemic.
One of those two regions — the Lynden area — saw its total number of cases during the pandemic increase by nearly 25% in just one week, as every region in the county saw substantial growth, according to the latest location data published by the Whatcom County Health Department Thursday, Dec. 3.
The news came shortly after the county’s total number of cases during the pandemic surpassed 2,500 on Wednesday, according to the Washington State Department of Health, as a steady stream of big daily case numbers continue to roll in during the past two weeks.
The faint glimmer of hope from what has been an otherwise difficult week for Whatcom County in terms of COVID numbers is that two regions — the areas covered by the Blaine and Mount Baker school districts — still have two-week infection rates slightly below triple digits, though both regions still saw substantial growth since data was last released Nov. 24.
The county health department releases data on the location of COVID-19 positive tests by school district and published new data on its website Thursday with each district’s number of total cases and infection rates the past two weeks. Data in Thursday’s report was through Dec. 2, and the infection rates reflected cases reported between Nov. 15 and Nov. 28.
Before the Lynden and Meridian regions topped the plateau of 300 infections per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks in Thursday’s report, the highest infection rate any region in Whatcom County had seen was 208 posted by Nooksack Valley last week.
Overall, the county saw an 18.3% growth in cases (368 cases) since the last data release on Nov. 24. Added to the weekly total of 123 cases reported Nov. 24, that works out to a county-wide two-week infection rate of approximately 218.2 per 100,000 residents, based on 225,000 residents in the county.
Four regions within the county had infection rates higher than that county-wide mark, according to Thursday’s data.
Here is what the latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:
Bellingham: Up 17.3% (152 cases) since Nov. 24 to 1,029 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 157 to 174.
Blaine: Up 18.2% (20 cases) since Nov. 24 to 130 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 51 to 97.
Ferndale: Up 18.4% (78 cases) since Nov. 24 to 503 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 200 to 293.
Lynden: Up 22.9% (57 cases) since Nov. 24 to 306 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 178 to 326.
Meridian: Up 16.9% (24 cases) since Nov. 24 to 166 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 149 to 316.
Mount Baker: Up 13.3% (12 cases) since Nov. 24 to 102 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 25 to 70.
Nooksack Valley: Up 20.3% (25 cases) since Nov. 25 to 148 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 208 to 271.
