COVID-19 infection rates show improvement in four Whatcom County regions
COVID-19 infection rates decreased in four of seven Whatcom County school district regions last week, according to the latest location data released by the Whatcom County Health Department on Tuesday, Sept. 14.
The biggest drop was in the region covered by the Lynden School District, where the number of COVID infections per 100,000 residents the past two weeks dropped below 1,000 after rising above that mark last week. But the Bellingham, Meridian and Nooksack Valley regions all saw decreases last week, as well.
Meridian also became the fourth region in the county to surpass 60% of all residents initiating vaccination against COVID, according to the latest data, joining Bellingham, Blaine and Ferndale.
Two-week hospitalization rates for all seven regions also dropped below 50 COVID-related patients per 100,000 people, according to the county’s data.
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, Sept. 11, and the infection and hospitalization rates reflect confirmed cases from Aug. 28 through Sept. 1.
Overall, Whatcom County saw a 4.0% growth in cases with 517 cases between Sept. 5 and 11 — down from the 611 new cases the county reported the previous week, according to the data.
With 1,128 cases in the past two weeks, Whatcom County has an overall infection rate of 501, based on 225,300 residents in the county. Three of the county’s regions had infection rates lower than that mark, according to the county’s data this week.
As of Sept. 11, the Washington State Department of Health reported that 64.6% of all Whatcom County residents had initiated vaccination and 58.9% had completed it.
Here is what the health department’s latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:
Bellingham: Up 3.9% (188 cases) since the Sept. 4 report to 4,950 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 404 last week to 321 this week. Approximately 73.2% 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 6.7% (66 cases) since the Sept. 4 report to 1,044 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 610 last week to 694 this week. Approximately 65.1% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 37.1 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Ferndale: Up 4.2% (107 cases) since the Sept. 4 report to 2,625 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 584 last week to 589 this week. Approximately 61.6% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 36.5 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Lynden: Up 3.9% (85 cases) since the Sept. 4 report to 2,274 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 1,008 last week to 897 this week. Approximately 51.2% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 46.5 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Meridian: Up 1.4% (nine cases) since the Sept. 4 report to 653 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 294 last week to 250 this week. Approximately 60.2% 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 4.0% (30 cases) since the Sept. 4 report to 772 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 286 last week to 317 this week. Approximately 43.6% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 18.7 COVID-related hospitalizations in the past two weeks.
Nooksack Valley: Up 3.1% (32 cases) since the Sept. 4 report to 1,073 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 610 last week to 601 this week. Approximately 47.4% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 43.6 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
This story was originally published September 15, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
