As Whatcom endures post-holiday COVID spike, one region’s infection rate triples in a week
While all seven regions in Whatcom County are seeing post-holiday COVID-19 spikes, three saw their infection rates double last week and one more than tripled — yes, tripled — in just seven days.
Northern parts of the county saw the largest jumps last week, according to data released Wednesday, Jan. 13, by the Whatcom County Health Department, as the Nooksack Valley and Lynden school district regions each saw their total number of confirmed cases jump by more than 100.
“Recent data shows soaring case rates across all of Whatcom County, most strikingly in the north regions of the county,” a health department release accompanying the data weekly data release said Wednesday. “Cases have skyrocketed in the areas of Lynden and Nooksack Valley.”
Though those areas saw the highest number of cases last week, they certainly were not alone.
The infection rates — or the number of new cases per 100,000 residents over 14 days — more than doubled in the Blaine, Lynden and Mount Baker regions.
Nooksack Valley’s infection rate, meanwhile, more than tripled — setting a record high for any region since the county first began releasing regional data May 21. The previous record was a rate of 632 set in Nooksack in the Dec. 15 report, but this week’s mark for Nooksack was nearly double that mark.
“The Whatcom County Health Department urges everyone in Whatcom County to take immediate preventive steps to protect themselves and their neighbors from a resurgent COVID-19,” the health department said in the release. “Without urgent action, rates will continue to rise and businesses will continue to be shuttered or operate at very low capacity. These steps include mask-wearing, physical distancing and frequent hand washing.”
The health department went on to say that 80% of known transmission sources continue to be from social events and within households.
“This means that most of the new cases are contracted from friends and loved ones,” the health department said. “The Whatcom County Health Department advises against social gatherings of any size with non-household members at this time.”
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. Data in Wednesday’s report was through Saturday, Jan. 9, and the infection rates reflected cases between Dec. 27 and Jan. 9.
For the fifth straight week, all seven regions had infection rates above 100, and for the first time, all seven were above 200.
Overall, the county saw a 15.5% growth in cases (549 cases) since the last data release on Jan. 5 — an increase from the 8.7% growth and 284 new cases seen the previous week, according to the county’s data.
With 833 cases the past two weeks, according to the report, Whatcom County overall has an infection rate of 370.2, based on 225,000 residents in the county. Four of the county’s regions had infection rates higher than that mark, according to the county’s data.
Here is what the health department’s latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:
Bellingham: Up 9.5% (85 cases) since the Jan. 5 report to 1,669 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 147 to 232.
Blaine: Up 16.0% (32 cases) since the Jan. 5 report to 232 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 108 to 250.
Ferndale: Up 9.5% (66 cases) since the Jan. 5 report to 758 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 200 to 338.
Lynden: Up 27.8% (129 cases) since the Jan. 5 report to 593 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 390 to 850.
Meridian: Up 7.5% (17 cases) since the Jan. 5 report to 245 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 325 to 399.
Mount Baker: Up 32.7% (55 cases) since the Jan. 5 report to 223 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 177 to 456.
Nooksack Valley: Up 38.0% (105 cases) since the Jan. 5 report to 381 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 325 to 1,147.
This story was originally published January 13, 2021 at 10:33 AM.
