COVID infection rates in northern Whatcom County taper off, but still remain high
After setting record highs the week before, northern regions of Whatcom County saw their COVID-19 infection rates taper off last week, though they still remained more than double the rest of the county.
The regions covered by the Lynden and Nooksack Valley school districts both still are averaging more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks, according to data released Tuesday, Jan. 26, by the Whatcom County Health Department.
But both saw their rates drop from last week’s report — Nooksack’s by nearly a third from last week’s 1,662, which was a record high for any region in the county during the pandemic.
The Mount Baker region joined Nooksack Valley and Lynden in having its infection rate decrease last week, and only two regions — the areas covered by the Ferndale and Meridian school districts — saw significant increases of more than 50.
The county health department releases weekly data on the location of COVID-19 cases using school districts as geographical boundaries, including each region’s number of total cases during the pandemic and its infection rates. Data in Tuesday’s report was through Saturday, Jan. 23, and the infection rates reflected cases between Jan. 10 and 23.
For the third straight week, all seven regions had infection rates above 200.
Overall, the county saw a 12.3% growth in cases (565 cases) since the last data release on Jan. 19 — an increase from the 12.1% growth and 497 new cases seen the previous week, according to the county’s data.
With 1,062 cases the past two weeks, according to the report, Whatcom County overall has an infection rate of 472.0, based on 225,000 residents in the county. Three 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 8.8% (157 cases) since the Jan. 19 report to 1,950 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 233 to 247.
Blaine: Up 15.0% (39 cases) since the Jan. 19 report to 299 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 341 to 381.
Ferndale: Up 15.9% (133 cases) since the Jan. 19 report to 972 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 433 to 547.
Lynden: Up 18.3% (132 cases) since the Jan. 19 report to 852 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 1,260 to 1,245.
Meridian: Up 10.6% (28 cases) since the Jan. 19 report to 293 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 344 to 427.
Mount Baker: Up 11.1% (29 cases) since the Jan. 19 report to 291 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 589 to 399.
Nooksack Valley: Up 10.2% (47 cases) since the Jan. 19 report to 506 total cases and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 1,662 to 1,111.
