COVID infection rates climb to record highs in two Whatcom regions, one region sees drop
While COVID-19 infection rates were up across most of Whatcom County, even reaching record levels in two regions, one area saw decreased activity last week.
Though it was just a small decrease, the region covered by the Meridian School District did see its two-week rate of new cases per 100,000 residents drop last week, when the Whatcom County Health Department released its latest location data Tuesday, Aug. 31.
However, Meridian was the only region to have an infection rate below 300, as the other six regions all showed growth last week.
The Bellingham and Blaine rates grew to the highest marks they have seen since the health department began releasing data July 27, 2020.
Additionally, Lynden’s infection rate surpassed 750, while Nooksack Valley checked in just below 700. Those regions also surpassed case milestones last week, with Lynden seeing more than 2,000 cases during the pandemic and Nooksack Valley reaching 1,000.
Though its caseload also showed big gains last week, Ferndale did surpass 60% of its total population initiating vaccination last week, the health department reported, joining Bellingham and Blaine as the only regions to accomplish that so far.
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. 28, and the infection and hospitalization rates reflect confirmed cases from Aug. 15-28.
Overall, Whatcom County saw a 5.4% growth in cases with 633 cases between Aug. 15 and Aug. 21 — up from the 554 new cases the county reported the previous week, according to the data.
With 1,189 cases in the past two weeks, Whatcom County has an overall infection rate of 528, based on 225,300 residents in the county. Four of the county’s regions had infection rates lower than that mark, and one matched it, according to the county’s data this week.
As of Aug. 28, the Washington State Department of Health reported that 63.6% of all Whatcom County residents had initiated vaccination and 57.9% had completed it.
Here is what the health department’s latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:
Bellingham: Up 6.8% (290 cases) since the Aug. 24 report to 4,561 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 377 last week to 484 this week — the region’s highest mark since data began being reported July 27, 2020. Approximately 72.5% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 15.9 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 in the past two weeks.
Blaine: Up 5.8% (49 cases) since the Aug. 24 report to 898 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 360 last week to 488 this week — the region’s highest mark since data began being reported July 27, 2020. Approximately 64.1% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 5.3 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Ferndale: Up 4.7% (108 cases) since the Aug. 24 report to 2,406 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 365 last week to 528 this week — the region’s highest mark since Feb. 9. Approximately 60.5% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 8.4 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Lynden: Up 5.5% (108 cases) since the Aug. 24 report to 2,061 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 395 last week to 752 this week — the region’s highest mark since May 18. Approximately 49.7% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 32.5 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Meridian: Up 1.8% (11 cases) since the Aug. 24 report to 622 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 258 last week to 250 this week. Approximately 58.8% 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 4.4% (34 cases) since the Aug. 24 report to 715 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 336 last week to 354 this week — the region’s highest mark since Jan. 26. Approximately 42.7% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen no COVID-related hospitalizations in the past two weeks.
Nooksack Valley: Up 3.8% (37 cases) since the Aug. 24 report to 1,000 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 506 last week to 697 this week — the region’s highest mark since Jan. 26. Approximately 45.9% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 26.2 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
