These Whatcom regions are seeing the most COVID-19 cases and highest infection rates
COVID-19 infection rates continued to grow throughout Whatcom County last week, according to weekly data, but two regions in the county saw pandemic total case numbers jump by more than 5%.
The regions covered by the Bellingham and Blaine school districts each saw their pandemic total number of cases increase by 5.5% last week, according to location data released Tuesday, Aug. 17, by the Whatcom County Health Department.
The last time any region within the county saw its number of cases grow by that big a percentage was the last full week of May (May 23-29).
The Bellingham and Blaine regions also have the highest percentages of vaccinated residents, according to the health department’s data, as they’re the only two regions where more than 60% of the population has initiated vaccination.
No region was immune from increases last week, as all seven saw their case numbers jump by double figures and infection rates climb to their highest rates of the summer. Bellingham’s big increase actually pushed its infection rate to the highest mark its seen since the health department started releasing regional data in July 2020.
Only the region covered by the Meridian School District had a two-week infection rate of fewer than 200 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the health department’s data, while Lynden and Blaine’s rates moved above 300.
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 this week’s report was through Saturday, Aug. 14, and the infection and hospitalization rates reflect confirmed cases from Aug. 1-14.
Overall, Whatcom County saw a 4.1% growth in cases with 432 cases between Aug. 8 and Aug. 14 — up from the 265 new cases the county reported the previous week, according to the data.
With 697 cases in the past two weeks, Whatcom County has an overall infection rate of 310, based on 225,300 residents in the county. Five of the county’s regions had infection rates lower than that mark, according to the county’s data this week.
As of Aug. 14, the Washington State Department of Health reported that 62.3% of all Whatcom County residents had initiated vaccination and 56.9% had completed it.
Here is what the health department’s latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:
Bellingham: Up 5.5% (210 cases) since the Aug. 10 report to 4,006 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 155 last week to 268 this week. Approximately 71.0% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 8.0 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 in the past two weeks.
Blaine: Up 5.5% (42 cases) since the Aug. 10 report to 801 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 254 last week to 312 this week. Approximately 62.4% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 21.2 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Ferndale: Up 3.2% (68 cases) since the Aug. 10 report to 2,211 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 188 last week to 258 this week. Approximately 58.6% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 14.0 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Lynden: Up 2.8% (52 cases) since the Aug. 10 report to 1,896 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 209 last week to 334 this week. Approximately 48.0% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 18.6 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Meridian: Up 1.9% (11 cases) since the Aug. 10 report to 593 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 178 last week to 196 this week. Approximately 59.4% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 17.8 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Mount Baker: Up 4.3% (27 cases) since the Aug. 10 report to 651 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 143 last week to 255 this week. Approximately 41.9% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 6.2 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Nooksack Valley: Up 2.5% (22 cases) since the Aug. 10 report to 918 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 139 last week to 253 this week. Approximately 42.8% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen no COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
