Whatcom County closing in on highest COVID infection rate its seen during the pandemic
Continuing to feel the impacts of the surging delta virus, Whatcom County is nearing its highest two-week COVID-19 infection rate during the 18-month pandemic.
Whatcom’s two-week infection rate — its number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents — increased to 478.5 for the most recently completed epidemiological data (Aug. 11-24), according to the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard on Wednesday, Sept. 1.
The county has seen a rate higher than that only seven times throughout the pandemic during a seven-day stretch from Jan. 12-18 when the county was in the middle of its post-holiday surge. It was during that stretch that Whatcom saw its highest infection rate of the pandemic, when it climbed to 528.07 on Jan. 15 (for cases Jan. 2-15).
Incomplete data, which could change as the state finalizes its figures, show Whatcom is likely to get even closer to that high mark, as the infection rate is projected to climb as high as 517.5 once data for Aug. 16-29 is completed, the dashboard shows.
That comes as the state reported 91 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Whatcom County on Wednesday, increasing its pandemic total to 11,709 since the county’s first confirmed case on March 6, 2020.
An additional 776 probable cases —resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test — have been reported during the pandemic, which was an increase of six from the last report.
The latest report on the state dashboard also shows Whatcom County has:
▪ 586 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up two from the last report. St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 32 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Thursday — unchanged from the last report and seven fewer than the pandemic-high of 39 treated Monday, Aug. 30. The hospital reported that between Aug. 25 and Sept. 1 approximately 12% of its COVID-related patients were vaccinated.
▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 7.46 patients per 100,000 for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data for Aug. 16-23— up from 7.02 in the last report (Aug. 16-22).
▪ 116 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic — unchanged from the last report.
▪ 317,046 tests (molecular and antigen combined) performed during the pandemic — up 358 from the last report.
▪ 246,524 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 435 from the last report. The state reports 63.7% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 58.0% has completed it.
Additionally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Data Tracker Thursday listed Whatcom’s level of transmission as “High” — the highest of four categories. All 39 counties in Washington state were listed in the “High” transmission category, and 94.0% of all counties nationwide were “High.”
Whatcom’s COVID variant update
Whatcom County had 83 new confirmed COVID variant cases reported last week in the state Department of Health’s SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing and Variants in Washington State report released Wednesday. All but one were a result of the delta variant.
The 82 new confirmed delta variant cases bring Whatcom’s reported total to 332 confirmed delta variant cases, which represent 15.8% of the 2,096 total confirmed COVID cases reported in the county since the first delta variant case was reported July 6.
But its likely delta’s impact is much higher than that, as the report said that only about one in five (20.5%) confirmed molecular COVID-19 cases were sequenced for variants in July.
In the Aug. 26 Whatcom County COVID-19 Data Report, the Whatcom County Health Department reported that 98% of all sequenced specimens from the county had detected the delta variant.
The only other new confirmed variant case reported by the state in Wednesday’s report was a new case of the gamma (or Brazil) variant. There have now been 250 confirmed cases of that variant in Whatcom County.
Whatcom County has at least one case of nine of the 10 variants currently being tracked in Washington state, but beyond the delta and gamma variants, Whatcom has seen fewer than 100 cases of every other variant except than the alpha (or U.K.) variant, which has 469 confirmed cases in the county.
State breakthrough update
Washington state saw 21,757 confirmed COVID-19 cases in people who were fully vaccinated between Jan. 17 and Aug. 21, according to the SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Breakthrough Surveillance and Case Information Resource report released Wednesday.
Of those “breakthrough” cases, 86% of people (10,226) reported symptoms, 9% (1,019 people) were hospitalized and 185 people (0.9%) died of a COVID-related illness, according to the report.
The report also showed that more than three-quarters of the “breakthrough” cases (16,461 cases) were in people between the ages of 20 and 64 and 55% were in women.
The report does not break down data to the county level. The report that does — the COVID-19 Cases, Deaths, and Hospitalizations in Persons Who Are Not Fully Vaccinated report — has been delayed until Friday.
The Whatcom County Health Department reported last week that it saw 147 breakthrough cases between Aug. 15-21, and 499 total cases in people who are fully vaccinated. Those breakthroughs resulted in four COVID-related hospitalizations and three deaths Aug. 15-21. Overall, the county reported 27 total breakthrough hospitalizations and five related deaths.
Bellingham schools report cases
Classes started Wednesday, and Bellingham Public Schools has reported its first COVID cases of the school year.
The district’s COVID-19 dashboard reported that during the week of Aug. 23-27 there was one case at Whatcom Middle School and one case at a non-school site. On-site contacts have been notified in both instances.
Whatcom County schools have had a total of nine outbreaks resulting in 33 cases, according to the state’s COVID-19 Outbreaks in Washington State K-12 Schools report on July 30.
City council meetings update
Bellingham City Council meetings will stay online for the indefinite future, according to a recommendation from the city’s administration.
At its July 12 meeting, council members asked the administration to consider the possibility of returning to in-person meetings or using a hybrid model allowing both in-person and online options.
Brian Heinrich, deputy city administrator, recommended against in-person meetings to the council and all city boards and commissions because the COVID-19 delta variant is causing hospitalizations and infections rates to rise near levels from last winter’s surge.
”The landscape changed drastically in those few weeks for the worse,” Council President Hannah Stone said at the council’s Aug. 30 Committee of the Whole meeting.
Heinrich said the city is still planning for the possibility of a hybrid model for meetings.
— Robert Mittendorf, rmittendorf@bhamherald.com
