COVID infection rates climb in six Whatcom regions last week — one to a pandemic high
Though the COVID-19 infection rate dropped in one school district region within Whatcom County, rates in the other six districts climbed last week, and one region saw its highest mark so far during the pandemic.
The region covered by the Meridian School District was the only of Whatcom’s seven districts to have its rate of new confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past 14 days decrease from last week’s mark when the Whatcom County Health Department released its new location data on Tuesday, April 27.
Not coincidentally, the Meridian region was the only region to have an infection rate below 100 in this week’s data.
Meanwhile, the region covered by the Blaine School District saw its infection rate surge above 400 new cases per 100,000 residents the past two weeks for the first time since the health department began releasing location data on July 27. The region has seen a 15.8% increase in cases in the past two weeks.
But Blaine was far from alone, as all other regions except Meridian also saw infection rates rise last week, including sizable increases of at least 45 cases per 100,000 residents in Ferndale, Lynden, Mount Baker and Nooksack Valley.
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 rate. Data in Wednesday’s report was through Saturday, April 24, and the infection rates reflect confirmed cases from April 11-24.
Overall, Whatcom County saw a 2.7% growth in cases (209 cases) between April 18 and 24— up from the 2.6% growth and 191 new cases the county reported the previous week.
With 400 cases the past two weeks, Whatcom County has an overall infection rate of 177.8, based on 225,300 residents in the county. Three of the county’s regions had infection rates higher than that mark, according to the county’s data this week.
Here is what the health department’s latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:
Bellingham: Up 2.5% (69 cases) since the April 21 report to 2,855 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 111 last week to 118 this week.
Blaine: Up 6.5% (32 cases) since the April 21 report to 521 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 296 last week to 404 this week.
Ferndale: Up 3.5% (54 cases) since the April 21 report to 1,600 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 248 last week to 311 this week.
Lynden: Up 2.0% (25 cases) since the April 21 report to 1,295 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 109 last week to 198 this week.
Meridian: Up 1.5% (six cases) since the April 21 report to 409 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 102 last week to 93 this week.
Mount Baker: Up 3.2% (14 cases) since the April 21 report to 446 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 120 last week to 165 this week.
Nooksack Valley: Up 1.2% (nine cases) since the April 21 report to 738 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 72 last week to 126 this week.
