One Whatcom region sees highest COVID infection rate in 3 months, 4 others also increase
One school district region within Whatcom County saw its COVID-19 infection rate increase to the highest level any of the seven regions have seen since the first week of February, while four others also saw their rates increase last week.
The region covered by the Lynden School District has seen 150 new cases over the past two weeks, according to data released by the Whatcom County Health Department on Tuesday, May 18, pushing the region’s number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents the past two weeks above 700 — the first time any region in Whatcom County has been that high since Lynden’s rate was 805 in the Feb. 2 report.
Though it had the largest gain, Lynden was not alone in seeing an infection rate increase last week, as the Meridian region also saw its infection rate increase by more than 200 last week. Only the Bellingham and Ferndale regions saw decreases, and all seven regions are above 100 cases per 100,000 residents the past two weeks.
The county on Tuesday also released the vaccination rates for each of the seven regions for the first time, publishing the percentage of residents within each region that have initiated vaccination.
Though the region with the highest vaccination rate — Bellingham with 60.3% of residents initiating vaccination — also had the lowest infection rate, the rest of the vaccination rates did not necessarily seem to have a direct correlation to infection rates.
For example, the Mount Baker region had the second-lowest vaccination rate in the county but also had the county’s second-best infection rate, while Meridian has the second-highest infection rate but the third-highest vaccination rate.
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 Tuesday’s report was through Saturday, May 15, and the infection rates reflect confirmed cases from May 2-15.
Overall, Whatcom County saw a 3.8% growth in cases (315 cases) between May 9 and 15 — up from the 2.1% growth and 174 new cases the county reported the previous week.
With 489 cases the past two weeks, Whatcom County has an overall infection rate of 217.3, based on 225,300 residents in the county. Five 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 2.4% (73 cases) since the May 11 report to 3,062 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 117 last week to 112 this week. Bellingham had the county’s highest vaccination rate at 60.6% of residents initiating vaccination.
Blaine: Up 4.1% (23 cases) since the May 11 report to 579 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 188 last week to 210 this week. Blaine had the county’s second-highest vaccination rate at 49.2% of residents initiating vaccination.
Ferndale: Up 2.9% (49 cases) since the May 11 report to 1,740 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 260 last week to 221 this week. Ferndale had the county’s fourth-highest vaccination rate at 40.7% of residents initiating vaccination.
Lynden: Up 7.6% (105 cases) since the May 11 report to 1,494 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 464 last week to 741 this week. Lynden had the county’s third-lowest vaccination rate at 36.4% of residents initiating vaccination.
Meridian: Up 7.6% (33 cases) since the May 11 report to 469 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 251 last week to 455 this week. Meridian had the county’s third-highest vaccination rate at 46.8% of residents initiating vaccination.
Mount Baker: Up 3.1% (14 cases) since the May 11 report to 472 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 76 last week to 120 this week. Mount Baker had the county’s second-lowest vaccination rate at 29.1% of residents initiating vaccination.
Nooksack Valley: Up 2.4% (18 cases) since the May 11 report to 780 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 226 last week to 298 this week. Nooksack Valley had the county’s lowest vaccination rate at 28.5% of residents initiating vaccination.
