While all 7 Whatcom regions saw COVID infection rates decline last week, 4 had big drops
The four regions in Whatcom County with the highest COVID-19 infection rates all saw significant drops, as the entire county continued its recovery from a post-holiday surge.
The regions covered by the Lynden and Nooksack Valley school districts both saw their number of cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks decrease by at least 100 from the previous week, according to data released Tuesday, Feb. 23, by the Whatcom County Health Department.
And the regions covered by Ferndale and Meridian school districts weren’t far off, as all seven regions in the county now have infection rates lower than 400 — the first time that has been the case since the county’s Jan. 5 release of geographic data.
Though their decreases were not as large, the Bellingham, Blaine and Mount Baker regions also saw their infection rates decrease last week, marking the second straight week all seven regions have shown decreases and only the third time since the county health department began releasing regional infection rates in late July.
But infection rates in all seven regions remained higher than 100, continuing a trend seen since the Dec. 8 report.
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. 20, and the infection rates reflect cases between Feb. 7 and 20.
Overall, the county saw a 4.3% growth in cases (259 cases) since the last data release on Feb. 16 — an increase from the 3.3% growth and 195 new cases seen the previous week, according to the county’s data.
With 454 cases the past two weeks, according to the report, Whatcom County has an overall infection rate of 201.8, 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 4.0% (89 cases) since the Feb. 16 report to 2,311 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 149 to 145.
Blaine: Up 6.4% (23 cases) since the Feb. 16 report to 384 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 193 to 176.
Ferndale: Up 6.3% (75 cases) since the Feb. 16 report to 1,274 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 407 to 320.
Lynden: Up 3.7% (38 cases) since the Feb. 16 report to 1,054 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 499 to 380.
Meridian: Up 2.6% (nine cases) since the Feb. 16 report to 351 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 260 to 167.
Mount Baker: Up 1.2% (four cases) since the Feb. 16 report to 336 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 152 to 101.
Nooksack Valley: Up 3.5% (21 cases) since the Feb. 16 report to 616 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 497 to 379.
