COVID-19 infection rates shrink by more than 48% in three Whatcom County regions
All seven school district regions within Whatcom County saw their COVID-19 infection rates shrink to their lowest marks of the year, according to new data released Tuesday by the Whatcom County Health Department.
All seven regions within the county had their infection rate decrease last week for the third time in five weeks, and three region’s rates — Blaine, Mount Baker and Nooksack Valley — dropped by more than 48%.
Blaine’s and Mount Baker’s drops meant they joined Bellingham by averaging fewer than 100 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks.
No region had more than 34 new cases last week, and four — Blaine, Meridian, Mount Baker and Nooksack — had five or fewer.
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 the Tuesday, March 16, report was through Saturday, March 13, and the infection rates reflect cases between Feb. 28 and March 13.
Overall, the county saw a 1.6% growth in cases (106 cases) since the last data released on March 9 — a decrease from the 2.8% growth and 185 new cases seen the previous week, according to the county’s data.
With 291 cases the past two weeks, according to the report, Whatcom County has an overall infection rate of 129.2, based on 225,300 residents in the county. Four of the county’s regions had infection rates are 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 1.4% (34 cases) since the March 9 report to 2,452 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 96 to 78 — its lowest mark since the Nov. 10 report.
Blaine: Up 1.0% (four cases) since the March 9 report to 417 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 165 to 85 — its lowest mark since the Nov. 24 report.
Ferndale: Up 1.8% (25 cases) since the March 9 report to 1,383 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 251 to 194 — its lowest mark since the Dec. 29 report.
Lynden: Up 2.7% (31 cases) since the March 9 report to 1,171 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 425 to 341 — its lowest mark since the Dec. 29 report.
Meridian: Up 1.4% (five cases) since the March 9 report to 373 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 149 to 139 — its lowest mark since the Dec. 15 report.
Mount Baker: Up 0.5% (two cases) since the March 9 report to 381 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 272 to 95 — its lowest mark since the Dec. 8 report.
Nooksack Valley: Up 0.7% (five cases) since the March 9 report to 679 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 524 to 244 — its lowest mark since the Nov. 24 report.
