Latest data shows COVID-19 continuing to hit Whatcom’s unvaccinated residents hardest
Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated Whatcom County residents were 3½ times more likely to contract COVID-19 during the final week of September than those who were fully vaccinated, according to analysis of data released by the Whatcom County Health Department.
During the week of Sept. 26 through Oct. 2, there were a total 466 COVID cases, 22 hospitalizations and eight deaths reported, according to the health department’s latest data report released Friday, Oct 8.
Of those 332 cases (71%), 18 hospitalizations (82%) and five deaths (62%) were in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents, according to the health department. The five deaths among unvaccinated residents were in a woman in her 80s, two women in their 90s and two men in their 70s, the health department reported.
That means that 134 cases, four hospitalizations and three deaths occurred in people who were deemed fully vaccinated. The three deaths were of a vaccinated man in their 60s, a vaccinated woman in their 60s and a vaccinated man in their 90s, the health department reported.
Based on 134,264 Whatcom County residents completing vaccination by that the start of the week, reported by the state’s dashboard, The Bellingham Herald’s data analysis found that the weekly infection rate for fully vaccinated residents was 99.8 per 100,000. For comparison, the weekly infection rate among partially vaccinated or unvaccinated residents was 351.6.
Between Feb. 1 and Oct. 2, the Whatcom County Health Department has reported a total of 1,347 breakthrough COVID cases that have resulted in 49 hospitalizations (3.6% of cases) and 15 deaths (1.1% of cases). Meanwhile, there have been a total of 7,855 cases in partially vaccinated or unvaccinated residents that have resulted in 386 hospitalizations (4.9% of cases) and 40 deaths (0.5% of cases).
Whatcom COVID cases
With 68 new confirmed cases reported Friday, Whatcom had a total 420 new cases reported last week, marking the seventh time in the past eight weeks the county has surpassed 400 reported cases in a week.
There were 413 reported the week before (Sept. 26 through Oct. 2), and since the middle of August, Whatcom has seen an average of 456 cases reported per week.
The county now has had 14,038 confirmed cases during the pandemic.
An additional 1,128 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 two on Friday.
Whatcom County’s two-week infection rate dropped last week to 400 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed state case data between Sept. 16-29, down from 438 a week earlier (Sept. 9-22). Whatcom has the seventh-lowest two-week infection rate in the state, according to the state dashboard.
More Whatcom numbers
Other Whatcom County COVID data shows:
▪ Whatcom’s COVID-related weekly hospitalization rate climbed to 11.8 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents based on the state’s most recent completed data Sept. 23-29, according to the state’s dashboard, up from 10.1 a week earlier for data Sept. 16-22. Whatcom has the eighth-lowest hospitalization rate in the state, according to the state dashboard.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 28 patients for COVID on Monday, Oct. 11 — down from 30 on Saturday, Oct. 9, and 29 on Sunday, Oct. 10.
▪ The four COVID-related deaths in Whatcom County reported by the state on Friday meant there were 10 reported deaths linked to the disease last week. The county has now seen 148 deaths linked to COVID during the pandemic.
▪ The state reports that 1.0% of Whatcom’s 15,166 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.2% average.
▪ The state’s vaccination report on Friday showed the county has now administered 261,463 vaccine doses — an increase of 4,395 last week, which was more than the 2,780 reported the week before. The state estimated that 65.9% of the total population in the county has initiated vaccination and 60.7% had completed it. Both percentages were ahead of the averages across the state, which reported that 63.8% of the state’s total population initiated vaccination and 58.6% 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 statewide Effective Reproductive Number (R-effective) shows that each person who tests positive for COVID-19 is estimated to infect 0.82 others as of Sept. 18, which is up from 0.75 on Sept. 11. Anything beneath 1.0 means that transmission of the disease should be shrinking.
▪ 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). Thirty-eight of the 39 counties in Washington state are listed in the “High” category, with Jefferson County the only exception, as are 90.5% of all counties nationwide.
Whatcom schools COVID update
The COVID-19 dashboards on Whatcom County school district websites showed:
▪ Bellingham Public Schools has reported 59 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, including three new cases list Friday with one each reported Oct. 4-8 at Northern Heights Elementary, Carl Cozier Elementary and Kulshan Elementary. Close contacts to the case have been notified, according to the dashboard.
▪ Blaine School District has reported 76 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Friday.
▪ Lynden School District has reported 88 total COVID-19 cases in its schools through Sept. 20.
▪ Meridian School District has reported 13 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Friday.
▪ Mount Baker School District has reported 19 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Friday.
▪ Ferndale School District reports that as of Friday, five students or staff have had a positive test reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days, all of whom were on a school campus during their infectious period.
COVID case information could not be found on the Nooksack Valley School District website.
The Herald’s analysis of data published by the Bellingham, Blaine, Lynden, Meridian and Mount Baker districts, which list which schools cases are reported in, shows that there have been a countywide total of 103 cases reported in elementary schools, 51 cases reported in middle/junior high schools and 77 cases reported in high schools so far this school year.
