Whatcom’s fifth surge of COVID pandemic hasn’t impacted all regions in the county equally
For the first time since mid June, all seven Whatcom County school district regions saw their COVID-19 infection rates decrease last week — another encouraging sign for the region as it attempts to emerge from its fifth surge of the pandemic.
Whatcom County has been feeling the effects of that surge spurred by the delta variant since approximately the Fourth of July holiday weekend, when case numbers started to creep up. By August, hospitalization rates also were beginning to climb to concerning levels.
But, The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of the latest location data released by the Whatcom County Health Department on Tuesday, Sept. 21, shows not every area of the county was impacted evenly.
While the area covered by the Meridian School District saw its total number of cases since July 3 increase by a little over 20% (114 cases), the Bellingham region’s total cases increased by nearly half (1,616 cases) and Blaine’s jumped by more than two-thirds (444 cases).
The other four areas in the county — Ferndale, Lynden, Mount Baker and Nooksack Valley — saw their case counts since July 3 grow by between 27% and 36%, The Herald’s analysis showed.
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. 18, and the infection and hospitalization rates reflect confirmed cases from Sept. 5 through Sept. 18.
Overall, Whatcom County saw a 3.7% growth in cases with 496 cases between Sept. 12 and Sept. 18 — down from the 517 new cases the county reported the previous week, according to the data.
With 1,013 cases in the past two weeks, Whatcom County has an overall infection rate of 450, based on 225,300 residents in the county. Four of the county’s regions had infection rates lower than that mark, according to the county’s data this week.
As of Sept. 18, the Washington State Department of Health reported that 66.0% of all Whatcom County residents had initiated vaccination and 59.4% had completed it.
Here is what the health department’s latest data showed for the seven regions in the county for the past week:
Bellingham: Up 3.7% (183 cases) since the Sept. 11 report to 5,133 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 321 last week to 296 this week. Approximately 73.6% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 6.2 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 in the past two weeks.
Blaine: Up 6.5% (68 cases) since the Sept. 11 report to 1,112 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 694 last week to 615 this week. Approximately 65.6% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 26.5 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Ferndale: Up 3.7% (98 cases) since the Sept. 11 report to 2,723 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 589 last week to 516 this week. Approximately 62.1% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 28.1 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Lynden: Up 4.2% (95 cases) since the Sept. 11 report to 2,369 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 897 last week to 715 this week. Approximately 51.7% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 27.9 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Meridian: Up 2.3% (15 cases) since the Sept. 11 report to 668 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 250 last week to 187 this week. Approximately 60.7% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 8.9 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Mount Baker: Up 2.3% (18 cases) since the Sept. 11 report to 790 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 317 last week to 280 this week. Approximately 44.0% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 31.1 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Nooksack Valley: Up 1.8% (19 cases) since the Sept. 11 report to 1,092 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 601 last week to 401 this week. Approximately 48.0% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 34.9 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
This story was originally published September 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
