COVID infection rates in four Whatcom regions decrease, but another rockets to record level
While four school district regions in Whatcom County saw their COVID-19 infection rates decrease last week, another saw its rate soar to another record level.
The region covered by the Nooksack Valley School District, which last week set a county record with an infection rate of 461 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks, pushed that record nearly 40% higher to 632 this week when the Whatcom County Health Department released its latest location data late Tuesday, Dec. 15.
Meanwhile, four other regions saw their infection rates decrease, including significant decreases in three regions — Ferndale, Meridian and Lynden — that had seen their rates surpass 300 in recent weeks.
The county health department releases weekly 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. 15, and the infection rates reflected cases between Nov. 29 and Dec. 12.
For the first time since the health department began releasing two-week infection rates on July 27, all seven regions had rates in triple digits, as Mount Baker surpassed 100 for the first time.
Overall, the county saw a 9.1% growth in cases (241 cases) since the last data release on Dec. 8. Added to the weekly total of 261 cases reported Dec. 8, that works out to a county-wide two-week infection rate of approximately 223.1 per 100,000 residents, based on 225,000 residents in the county.
Three regions 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 10.0% (114 cases) since Dec. 8 to 1,257 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 214 to 201.
Blaine: Up 12.2% (18 cases) since Dec. 8 to 166 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 205 to 233.
Ferndale: Up 4.7% (26 cases) since Dec. 8 to 579 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 335 to 251.
Lynden: Up 11.1% (37 cases) since Dec. 8 to 370 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 356 to 311.
Meridian: Up 3.4% (six cases) since Dec. 8 to 181 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 297 to 121.
Mount Baker: Up 14.2% (15 cases) since Dec. 8 to 121 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 89 to 120.
Nooksack Valley: Up 13.4% (25 cases) since Dec. 8 to 212 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 461 to 632.
