One Whatcom region has a COVID infection rate of zero, while rates in 4 others decreased
For only the second time since late July when the Whatcom County Health Department began reporting COVID-19 location data, one of the county’s seven school district regions has an infection rate of zero.
The region covered by the Meridian School District has seen no new COVID-19 cases the past two weeks, giving it a zero infection rate, according to the latest location data released by the health department this week.
The only other time a Whatcom region has seen an infection rate of zero since data began being released July 27, 2020, was in the Oct. 12 report, when the Mount Baker region had no new cases for a two-week period.
Ten other times a region has posted a single-digit infection rate, which is the number of new cases per 100,000 residents in a two-week period, but that hasn’t occurred since the Oct. 27 report.
While the Meridian region’s accomplishment the past two weeks is welcome news after the entire county battled high COVID case, hospitalization and death numbers since Thanksgiving, health department spokesperson Scarlet Tang cautioned in an email to The Bellingham Herald that it “doesn’t mean that their case rate will stay at zero, nor does it mean that the pandemic is over for this area.”
The Meridian region was hardly alone in terms of good news, though, as it was one of five regions to see its infection rate decrease last week, and only one region has a rate in triple figures.
That distinction belongs to the Lynden region, though it saw the second-largest drop (next to Meridian’s) last week.
The percentage of residents initiating vaccination in each region also continued to slowly increase last week, though none of the seven has yet reached 70%.
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, infection rate, hospitalization rate and percentage of residents who have initiated vaccination. Data in Wednesday’s report was through Saturday, July 3, and the infection and hospitalization rates reflect confirmed cases from June 20 and July 3.
Overall, Whatcom County saw a 0.6% growth in cases (55 cases) between June 27 and July 3 — down from the 63 new cases the county reported the previous week.
With 118 cases the past two weeks, Whatcom County has an overall infection rate of 52, based on 225,300 residents in the county. Three of the county’s regions had infection rates lower than that mark, according to the county’s data this week.
As of July 4, the Washington State Department of Health reported that 59.5% of all Whatcom County residents had initiated vaccination and 54.0% had completed it.
Here is what the health department’s latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:
Bellingham: Up 0.5% (18 cases) since the June 29 report to 3,517 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 32 last week to 26 this week. Approximately 68.6% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen no COVID-related hospitalizations in the past two weeks.
Blaine: Up 1.2% (eight cases) since the June 29 report to 668 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 85 last week to 95 this week. Approximately 59.0% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 10.6 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents the past two weeks.
Ferndale: Up 0.4% (eight cases) since the June 29 report to 1,997 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 84 last week to 62 this week. Approximately 55.2% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 5.6 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents the past two weeks.
Lynden: Up 0.5% (nine cases) since the June 29 report to 1,755 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 177 last week to 107 this week. Approximately 44.6% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 4.7 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents the past two weeks.
Meridian: Saw no new cases since the June 29 report to remain at 554 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 107 last week to zero this week. Approximately 56.0% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen no COVID-related hospitalizations in the past two weeks.
Mount Baker: Up 1.2% (seven cases) since the June 29 report to 575 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 37 last week to 50 this week. Approximately 39.5% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 6.2 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents the past two weeks.
Nooksack Valley: Up 0.6% (five cases) since the June 29 report to 863 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 122 last week to 78 this week. Approximately 39.4% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen no COVID-related hospitalizations in the past two weeks.
Whatcom pop-up vaccine clinics
The Whatcom County Health Department’s latest vaccine update Wednesday said that it will host four more pop-up vaccine clinics this weekend:
▪ 3-6 p.m. Friday, July 9, at the old Lynden Middle School gym, 516 Main St. — Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be available, as will COVID-19 testing.
▪ 5-7 p.m. Friday, July 9, at Lost Giants Cidery, 1200 Meador Ave. — Moderna vaccine will be available.
▪ 1-4 p.m. Saturday, July 10, Park & Poke in the WECU parking lot by Winco, 140 East Bellis Fair Parkway — Pfizer vaccine will be available, as will Spanish, Mixteco and Russian translation.
▪ Noon to 2 p.m. Sunday, July 11, at Kulshan Brewing Company, 1538 Kentucky St. — Moderna vaccine will be available.
While walk-ins are welcome at all four clinics, online pre-registration is available and recommended for the Lost Giants, WECU parking lot and Kulshan Brewing clinics through prepmod.doh.wa/gov.
The state’s vaccination report on Wednesday showed the county has now administered 227,854 vaccine doses and estimated that 69.7% of the county’s residents 16 and older have initiated vaccination, while 63.5% have completed it.
This story was originally published July 9, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
