COVID-19 infection rates show triple-digit growth in 2 Whatcom County regions last week
After two straight weeks of watching COVID-19 infection rates decrease in all seven school district regions within Whatcom County, four saw increases last week, including two by triple digits, according to data released Tuesday by the Whatcom County Health Department.
The regions covered by the Mount Baker and Nooksack Valley school districts each saw their number of new COVID-19 cases increase by more than 5% last week and their infection rates (number of new cases per 100,000 residents) surged by more than 100.
Those districts were not alone, though, as the Lynden and Blaine regions also saw smaller increases last week, while Ferndale’s infection rate was unchanged.
Only the regions covered by the Bellingham and Meridian school districts saw decreases last week.
That comes on the heels of all seven regions showing decreased infection rates for two straight weeks, as the county attempted to emerge from its post-holiday COVID surge. But Tuesday’s data shows there is still work to be done, as infection rates in all seven regions remained higher than 100 for the 12th straight week.
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. 27, and the infection rates reflect cases between Feb. 14 and 27.
Overall, the county saw a 3.8% growth in cases (239 cases) since the last data release on Feb. 23 — a decrease from the 4.3% growth and 259 new cases seen the previous week, according to the county’s data.
With 498 cases the past two weeks, according to the report, Whatcom County has an overall infection rate of 221.3, 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 2.4% (55 cases) since the Feb. 23 report to 2,366 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 145 to 117.
Blaine: Up 4.4% (17 cases) since the Feb. 23 report to 401 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 176 to 193.
Ferndale: Up 3.5% (45 cases) since the Feb. 23 report to 1,319 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days remained at 320.
Lynden: Up 4.6% (48 cases) since the Feb. 23 report to 1,102 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 380 to 420.
Meridian: Up 2.3% (eight cases) since the Feb. 23 report to 359 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 167 to 149.
Mount Baker: Up 8.9% (30 cases) since the Feb. 23 report to 366 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 101 to 215.
Nooksack Valley: Up 5.8% (36 cases) since the Feb. 23 report to 652 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 379 to 515.
