Whatcom County’s COVID-19 infection rate moves back above 500, as fifth surge continues
The fifth surge of the COVID-19 pandemic is not ready to let Whatcom County go just yet, as the county’s two-week infection rate inched above 500 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents again on Thursday, Sept. 23.
After three straight days of seeing its rate dip below that threshold, Whatcom County had a infection rate of 500.4 for the most recently completed data from Sept. 2-15, , according to the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard.
It marked the 18th time in the past three weeks that the county’s rate has been higher than 500.
For comparison, Whatcom topped that mark only three times in January during its post-holiday COVID surge.
The last time the county saw an infection rate below 400 was for data from Aug. 4-17.
The state reported 49 new confirmed cases for Whatcom County in Thursday’s data report, upping the county’s pandemic total to 13,153 cases since March 2020.
An additional 977 probable cases — an increase of 16 from the last report — were included in the state’s report, resulting from a positive antigen test not confirmed by a molecular test.
The latest report on the state dashboard also shows Whatcom County has:
▪ 693 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up five from the last report. St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 24 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Friday, Sept. 24 — down four from the last report.
▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 13.2 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data from Sept. 8-14 — down from 13.6 a week earlier (Sept. 1-7).
▪ 132 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic — unchanged from the last report.
▪ 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.”
▪ 253,601 vaccinations administered during the pandemic. The state reports 65.1% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 59.5% has completed it.
Whatcom schools COVID update
The Bellingham Public Schools COVID-19 dashboard has reported 36 total cases so far this school year.
The Blaine School District COVID-19 dashboard has reported 53 total cases so far this school year.
The Mount Baker School District COVID-19 dashboard has reported 10 cases so far this school year.
The Ferndale School District’s COVID-19 Updates page reports that six students or staff have had a positive test reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days, six of whom were on a school campus during their infectious period.
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 Meridian or Nooksack Valley school districts.
This story was originally published September 24, 2021 at 8:58 AM.
