Whatcom COVID update: County sees 242 cases, 12 hospitalizations and 4 deaths over weekend
Whatcom County continued to feel the impacts of its fifth surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the state reported 242 new confirmed cases, 12 COVID-related hospitalizations and four deaths linked to coronavirus over the weekend.
The county now has seen 12,552 confirmed cases, 656 related hospitalizations and 128 related deaths during the pandemic, according to the latest report Monday, Sept. 13, on the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard.
Whatcom has not seen a larger reported death total than the four it had Monday in more than a year, since it had seven deaths reported June 3, 2020.
The four deaths reported Monday were for people that first tested positive for COVID on Aug. 11, Aug. 23 (two people) and Aug. 26, according to the state’s epidemiological curves.
Those four deaths bring Whatcom’s epidemiological total for the month of August to 17, behind only its totals of 26 in March 2020 and 20 in January 2021. Three deaths were linked epidemiologically to cases in July.
During the pandemic, 1.0% of the county’s 13,451 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death, which is better than the statewide average of 1.1%.
No other information about the people whose deaths were reported Monday, including their ages, genders, vaccination status or hometowns, was reported Monday.
Meanwhile, the county’s weekly hospitalization rate, from the most recently completed data (Aug. 26-Sept. 1), stands at 10.6 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, the state reported, down slightly from the day before (11.0) but higher than 9.2 a week earlier (Aug. 18-24).
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 35 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Tuesday — down two from the last report and five fewer than the pandemic-high of 40 treated Saturday, Sept. 11.
The latest report on the state dashboard also shows Whatcom County has:
▪ 899 probable COVID cases during the pandemic — up 34 from the last report — resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
▪ A 14-day infection rate of 547.4 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data from Aug. 23 through Sept. 5 — down from the pandemic record-high of 554.0 a day earlier (Aug. 22 through Sept. 4), but up from the 536.0 rate one week earlier (Aug. 16-29).
▪ 327,628 tests (molecular and antigen combined) performed during the pandemic — up 2,353 from the last report.
▪ 250,792 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 1,315 from the last report. The state reports 64.6% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 58.9% has completed it.
Additionally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Data Tracker Tuesday 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.”
Bellingham schools report cases
The Bellingham Public Schools COVID-19 dashboard reported 10 additional cases and nine new incidents among its staff and students on Monday. The district now has had 17 incidents resulting in 23 cases so far this school year.
The most recent cases reported include:
▪ One new case at Bellingham High School. Two cases were previously reported at the school as part of the incident when possible contact occurred between Aug. 30 and Sept. 3.
▪ One case at Roosevelt Elementary School when possible contact occurred between Aug. 30 and Sept. 3.
▪ One case at Lowell Elementary School when possible contact occurred between Sept. 7 and 10.
▪ One case at Fairhaven Middle School when possible contact occurred between Sept. 7 and 10.
▪ One case at Options High School when possible contact occurred between Sept. 7 and 10.
▪ One case at Shuksan Middle School when possible contact occurred between Sept. 7 and 10.
▪ One case at Sunnyland Elementary School when possible contact occurred between Sept. 7 and 10.
▪ One case at Happy Valley Elementary School when possible contact occurred between Sept. 7 and 10.
▪ One case at Northern Heights Elementary School when possible contact occurred between Sept. 7 and 10.
▪ One case at Squalicum High School when possible contact occurred between Sept. 7 and 10.
The district reports close contacts have been notified in all incidents.
The Mount Baker School District’s COVID-19 dashboard did not show any new cases after it reported six cases in three incidents in its schools on Wednesday.
COVID dashboards for the Blaine and Lynden 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 14, 2021 at 8:41 AM.
