Whatcom COVID update: County surpasses 500 reported cases last week and sees another death
Despite surpassing 500 reported confirmed COVID-19 cases in a week for the fifth time during the pandemic and seeing another COVID-related death on Friday, Whatcom County did receive some good news over the weekend.
For the first time in more than a month, St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating fewer than 30 COVID patients.
After reporting that it was treating 32 patients on Saturday, Sept. 18, the hospital reported it had 28 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Sunday, Sept. 19, and Monday, Sept. 20. That’s 12 fewer than the record 40 it reported Sept. 11.
It also marked the first time the hospital’s COVID patient load dipped below 30 since it reported 27 patients on Aug. 13.
Whatcom County’s reported total of COVID-related hospitalizations grew by 24 last week, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard, including two new hospitalizations included in Friday’s report.
But the County’s weekly hospitalization rate, which is based on the state’s most recently completed data (Sept. 2-8), grew to 15.4 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, up from 10.5 one week earlier (Aug. 26 through Sept. 1).
Throughout the pandemic, Whatcom County has seen 668 hospitalizations related to COVID.
Approximately 15.2% of all COVID-related hospitalizations during the first 19 days of September were for people who were fully vaccinated, the hospital reported, meaning 84.8% of the hospitalizations this month have been in partially vaccinated or unvaccinated residents.
Whatcom COVID cases
With 66 new confirmed cases reported Friday, Whatcom had 504 new cases reported last week, marking the second time in three weeks the county has surpassed 500 reported cases in a week. There were 447 reported the week before after 569 were reported the week of Aug. 29.
The county now has had 12,814 confirmed cases during the pandemic.
An additional 929 probable cases, resulting from a positive antigen test not confirmed by a molecular test, have been reported in the county — an increase of 64 last week and none on Friday.
Whatcom County’s two-week infection rate dropped last week to 518.9 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed state case data between Aug. 27 and Sept. 9, down from 530.9 a week earlier (Aug. 20-Sept. 2).
Whatcom COVID death
The death that was reported Friday was for somebody who first tested positive for COVID on Sept. 13 — the second epidemiological death so far in September. As of Friday, there have been 17 epidemiological deaths in August reported by the state, after three were reported in July.
No other information about the person who died, such as their age, gender, vaccination status or hometown, was reported.
A total of 130 Whatcom County residents have suffered COVID-related deaths during the pandemic, and 0.9% of the county’s 13,743 total cases (confirmed and probable combined) have resulted in death. That’s better than the statewide 1.2% average.
The county had six COVID-related deaths reported last week — one more than it saw each of the previous two weeks.
More Whatcom numbers
Other Whatcom County COVID data shows:
▪ The state’s vaccination report on Friday showed the county has now administered 252,000 vaccine doses — an increase of 2,523 last week, which was more than the 2,130 reported the week before. The state estimated that 64.8% of the total population in the county had initiated vaccination and 59.1% had completed it. Both percentages were ahead of the averages across the state, which reported that 62.3% of the state’s total population initiated vaccination and 56.5% are fully vaccinated.
▪ The state has stopped updating the number of completed tests until Oct. 31 as it works “to increase its capacity to process the increased testing data volume received in the last few months.”
▪ The CDC’s COVID Data Tracker on Monday continued to list the level of transmission in Whatcom County as “High” (the highest of four classifications). All 39 counties in Washington state are listed in the “High” category, as are 93.9% of all counties nationwide.
Bellingham Schools report cases
The Bellingham Public Schools COVID-19 dashboard on Sunday reported three new cases and two new incidents in its schools, bringing its total to 32 cases across 21 incidents so far this school year. The new cases included:
▪ One new case at Sunnyland Elementary School reported Sept. 13-17. Two cases had already been reported as part of this incident.
▪ One case at Kulshan Middle School reported Sept. 13-17.
▪ One case at Silver Beach Elementary School reported Sept. 13-17.
Close contacts in the incident have been notified, according to the dashboard.
The Blaine School District COVID-19 dashboard did not list any new cases or incidents on Friday, as the district has had 12 cases and six incidents so far this school year.
The Mount Baker School District COVID-19 dashboard also did not list any new cases or incidents on Friday, as the district has had 10 cases and six incidents this school year.
The COVID dashboard for the Lynden School District has not been updated 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 20, 2021 at 12:16 PM.
