One Whatcom district sees more than 25% surge in new COVID-19 cases in just one week
One region within Whatcom County saw its total number of COVID-19 cases grow by more than 25% last week as its infection rate soared above 450 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks.
Meanwhile, almost every other region in the county saw significant increases in the past week.
“We are also seeing relatively high case rates continued across school district boundaries, and certainly we are seeing case increases in many of those boundaries, including Lynden, Meridian, Ferndale and Nooksack Valley,” Whatcom County Health Department Director Erika Lautenbach said in an online briefing Tuesday, Nov. 9.
The health department reaffirmed that trend when it released its latest location data Tuesday evening..
The county health department releases data on the location of COVID-19 cases by school district, including each district’s number of total cases during the pandemic and its infection rates per 100,000 residents the past two weeks. Data in Tuesday’s report was through Dec. 8, and the infection rates reflected cases between Nov. 22 and Dec. 5.
Nooksack Valley became the first district to surpass 400 infections per 100,000 residents in a two-week period, surpassing the old record of 326 set by the Lynden district in the Dec. 3 data release. Three districts — Nooksack Valley, Lynden and Ferndale — all surpassed that mark this week.
Meridian wasn’t far off, though it was the only of Whatcom’s seven districts to actually see its infection rate decrease this week. Only one district had an infection rate in double digits — down from two the week before.
Overall, the county saw a 10.9% growth in cases (261 cases) since the last data release on Dec. 3. Added to the weekly total of 368 cases reported Dec. 3, that works out to a county-wide two-week infection rate of approximately 279.6 per 100,000 residents, based on 225,000 residents in the county.
The four regions mentioned by Lautenbach all had infection rates higher than that county-wide rate.
Here is what the latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:
Bellingham: Up 11.1% (114 cases) since Dec. 3 to 1,143 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 174 to 214.
Blaine: Up 13.8% (18 cases) since Dec. 3 to 148 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 97 to 205.
Ferndale: Up 9.9% (50 cases) since Dec. 3 to 553 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 293 to 335.
Lynden: Up 8.8% (27 cases) since Dec. 3 to 333 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 326 to 356.
Meridian: Up 5.4% (nine cases) since Dec. 3 to 175 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 316 to 297.
Mount Baker: Up 3.9% (four cases) since Dec. 3 to 106 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 70 to 89.
Nooksack Valley: Up 26.4% (39 cases) since Dec. 3 to 187 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 271 to 461.
