Whatcom County has another triple-digit COVID weekend and sees a death reported Monday
Whatcom County reached triple digits in reported new COVID-19 cases for the ninth-straight weekend and added another related death, according to data released Monday, Oct. 4, on the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard.
The county had 179 new cases reported Monday, bringing its pandemic total to 13,797.
The last time Whatcom did not have a triple-digit weekend increase was Aug. 2, when 23 new cases were reported. Since then, the county has averaged 196 new cases in post-weekend reports.
The death reported Monday brings Whatcom’s total of COVID-related deaths during the pandemic to 139.
The death was for a person who first tested positive for COVID on Sept. 24, according to the state’s epidemiological data — upping the county’s death total in September to eight, The Bellingham Herald’s analysis shows.
With 2,172 total cases (confirmed and probable combined) in September, according to analysis of the state’s epidemiological data, 0.4% of all Whatcom County cases resulted in death last month, which is better than the county’s pandemic average of 0.9% and August’s 0.9% rate when it saw 19 deaths. Statewide, 1.2% of all COVID cases have resulted in death, according to the state dashboard.
No other information about the person whose death was reported Monday, such as their age, gender, vaccination status or hometown, was released.
Before the death reported Monday, 70% of Whatcom County’s 27 epidemiological deaths in August and September were in people 65 and older, according to The Herald’s analysis of the latest age-range data released by the state on Monday. For the entire pandemic before Monday, 83% of Whatcom’s first 138 deaths were in people 65 and older, according to analysis of the state data, which also showed that residents 65 and older accounted for 10.8% of all Whatcom cases through last week.
In August and September there were four deaths in Whatcom County of people in the 50-65 age group, three in the 35-49 age group and one in the 20-34 age group, the data shows. The county has not had any deaths of anybody younger than 20 throughout the pandemic.
Whatcom’s daily COVID numbers
The latest report on the state dashboard shows Whatcom County has:
▪ 1,091 probable COVID cases during the pandemic — up 27 from the last report — resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
▪ A 14-day infection rate of 411 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data from Sept. 19-25 — lower than the 454 rate one week earlier (Sept. 12-18).
▪ 723 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up thee from the last report. St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 29 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Tuesday, Oct. 5 — up two from the last report.
▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 9.2 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data from Sept. 19-25 — unchanged from a week earlier (Sept. 12-18).
▪ 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.”
▪ 259,163 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 2,095 from the last report. The state reports 65.7% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 60.4% 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 92.6% of all counties nationwide were “High.”
Whatcom schools COVID update
The Bellingham Public Schools COVID-19 dashboard has reported 45 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, including one new case reported Sept. 27 to Oct. 1 in Sehome High School. Close contacts to the cases have been notified, according to the dashboard.
The Blaine School District COVID-19 dashboard has reported 69 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Monday.
The Meridian School District COVID-19 dashboard has reported 13 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Monday.
The Mount Baker School District COVID-19 dashboard has reported 14 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, including a new case in the District Office and Maintenance. Affected individuals and all close contacts were quarantined, according to the dashboard.
The Ferndale School District’s COVID-19 Updates page reports that as of Tuesday, four students or staff have had a positive test reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days, three 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 Nooksack Valley School District website.
