Whatcom County surpasses 12,000 COVID cases, 120 deaths with big holiday weekend report
With a large report from over Labor Day Weekend, Whatcom County eclipsed both 12,000 reported COVID-19 cases and 120 coronavirus-related deaths and broke its nearly eight-month-old record for highest infection rate of the pandemic.
Whatcom saw 309 new confirmed COVID cases and two more deaths added to its pandemic totals on the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard on Tuesday, Sept. 7.
With the holiday weekend, the report represented four days’ worth of data, but the 309 new confirmed cases was a new record for Whatcom County, surpassing the previous high of 239 reported Jan. 11, which represented two days’ worth of data.
The large reported case total also pushed Whatcom County’s pandemic total of confirmed cases past 12,000 to 12,172. It took the county only two weeks to move from 11,000 confirmed cases reported to 12,000.
The state also reported an additional 823 probable cases in Whatcom County — and increase of 27 cases from the last report — resulting from a positive antigen test that is not confirmed by a molecular test.
The recent high case counts pushed Whatcom’s two-week infection rate to a pandemic high, according to the state’s epidemiological curves, which show the county averaged 536.40 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological case data between Aug. 17 and 30. Before the state’s Labor Day Weekend data release, the county’s previous high was 528.07 between Jan. 2 and 15.
“The 14-day infection rate is now as high as the previous peak in January,” Whatcom County Health Department spokesperson Melissa Morin told The Bellingham Herald in an emailed statement. “We have the tools to beat back this surge, and we need more people to use them. We ask everyone to wear a mask in public settings, to get vaccinated if they haven’t already, and to help someone else in their lives to get vaccinated.”
Meanwhile, the two COVID-related deaths reported Tuesday increased Whatcom’s pandemic total to 121.
The deaths were for people who first tested positive for COVID on Aug. 13 and Aug. 28, according to the state’s epidemiological curves, representing the ninth and 10th Whatcom residents to die after first testing positive for COVID in the month of August. There were three in July.
No other information about the people who died, such as age, gender, vaccination status or hometown, was reported.
With the deaths reported Tuesday, the state reports that 0.9% of Whatcom’s 12,995 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death. That’s better than the statewide average of 1.1%.
The latest report on the state dashboard also shows Whatcom County has:
▪ 622 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up 18 from the last report. St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 34 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Wednesday— unchanged from the last report and five fewer than the pandemic-high of 39 treated Aug. 30. The hospital reported that during the first six days of September approximately 12.6% of its COVID-related patients were vaccinated.
▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 11.4 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data for Aug. 23-29— up from 7.46 a week earlier (Aug. 16-22).
▪ 322,380 tests (molecular and antigen combined) performed during the pandemic — up 3,597 from the last report.
▪ 247,769 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 422 from the last report. The state reports 64.0% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 58.2% has completed it.
Additionally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Data Tracker Wednesday listed Whatcom’s level of transmission as “High” — the highest of four categories. Thirty-eight of 39 counties in Washington state were listed in the “High” transmission category, with Wahkiakum County in the “Moderate” level, and 95.2% of all counties nationwide were “High.”
Whatcom long-term care update
Whatcom County had six new COVID-19 cases and two COVID-related deaths associated with its long-term care facilities reported last week, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s latest COVID-19 Long-Term Care Report.
According to the report, which was released Tuesday and reflected data through Monday, Sept. 6, Whatcom County long-term care facilities have had 460 confirmed cases during the pandemic. The number of COVID-related deaths related to Whatcom’s long-term care facilities increased to 55, according to the state’s data.
The 460 cases mean that long-term care facilities had 3.9% of the total cases reported in Whatcom County as of Sept. 6, while the 55 related deaths represent 46.2% of the county’s death total.
Statewide, long-term care facilities have been associated with 22,306 cases (4% of the state’s total cases) and 2,776 related deaths (41% of the state’s death total).
Bellingham schools report cases
The Bellingham Public Schools COVID-19 dashboard reported five additional cases and two new incidents among its staff and students on Tuesday. The district has now had five incidents resulting in eight cases so far this school year.
The most recent cases were reported the week of Aug. 30 and include:
▪ Two new cases at Northern Height Elementary School. One case was previously reported at the school.
▪ Two cases at Cordata Elementary School.
▪ One case at Birchwood Elementary School.
The district reports close contacts have been notified in all three incidents.
COVID dashboards for the Blaine, Lynden and Mount Baker school districts have not reported any new cases this school year, while COVID case information could not be found on the websites for the Ferndale, Meridian or Nooksack Valley school districts.
This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 9:17 AM.
