These four regions in Whatcom County show large drops in their COVID-19 infection rates
Four of the five regions hit hardest by Whatcom County’s post-holiday COVID-19 surge saw triple-digit drops in their infection rates, as the entire county resumed its recovery from high case numbers.
The regions covered by the Ferndale, Lynden, Nooksack Valley and Blaine school districts all saw their number of cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days drop by at least 100 from the previous week’s data, and the Meridian region also showed significant improvement, according to data released Tuesday, Feb. 16, by the Whatcom County Health Department.
In fact, all seven regions saw their infection rates drop last week — only the second time that has occurred since the health department began releasing weekly location data in late July.
All seven regions in the county now have infection rates lower than 500 for the first time since data was released Jan. 5, and no region saw its number of cases grow by more than 4.1%.
Infection rates in all seven regions still remained higher than 100, continuing a trend seen since the Dec. 8 report., but the county’s largest region in terms of population — Bellingham — dipped below 150, marking the first time it or any other Whatcom region reached that mark since Jan. 5.
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 their infection rates. Data in Tuesday’s report was through Saturday, Feb. 13, and the infection rates reflect cases between Jan. 31 and Feb. 13.
Overall, the county saw a 3.3% growth in cases (195 cases) since the last data release on Feb. 9 — a decrease from the 6.3% growth and 350 new cases seen the previous week, according to the county’s data.
With 545 cases the past two weeks, according to the report, Whatcom County has an overall infection rate of 242.2, 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 3.5% (75 cases) since the Feb. 9 report to 2,222 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 184 to 149.
Blaine: Up 2.8% (10 cases) since the Feb. 9 report to 361 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 296 to 193.
Ferndale: Up 2.5% (29 cases) since the Feb. 9 report to 1,199 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 580 to 407.
Lynden: Up 4.0% (39 cases) since the Feb. 9 report to 1,016 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 623 to 499.
Meridian: Up 3.0% (10 cases) since the Feb. 9 report to 342 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 325 to 260.
Mount Baker: Up 4.1% (13 cases) since the Feb. 9 report to 332 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 158 to 152.
Nooksack Valley: Up 3.3% (19 cases) since the Feb. 9 report to 595 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 632 to 497.
