Whatcom improves, but still sees another triple-digit COVID case count over the weekend
Whatcom County saw its smallest weekend increase of reported new confirmed COVID-19 cases in seven weeks Monday, Oct. 11, but the total still reached triple digits for a 10th-straight week.
Whatcom’s confirmed case count increased by 154 over the weekend, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard, and now sits at a pandemic total of 14,192 confirmed cases.
The 154 cases was the smallest weekend increase the county has seen since it had 143 cases reported on Aug. 23, and Whatcom has averaged 192 new cases in weekend reports the past 10 Mondays (since Aug. 9).
Additionally, the county had 11 new probable cases reported by the state on Monday, resulting from a positive antigen test not confirmed by a molecular test, upping its pandemic total to 1,139 cases.
Whatcom’s two-week infection rate for the most recently completed epidemiological data (Sept. 19 through Oct. 2) stands at 411 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the state dashboard, which is slightly down from the 414 rate a week earlier (Sept. 12-25).
Whatcom’s weekend COVID numbers
The latest report on the state dashboard also shows Whatcom County has:
▪ 751 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up 10 from the last report. St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 27 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Tuesday, Oct. 12 — down one from the last report.
▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 8.8 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data from Sept. 26 through Oct. 2 — down from 9.7 from a week earlier (Sept. 19-25).
▪ 148 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.”
▪ 263,235 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 1,772 from the last report. The state reports 66.0% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 60.8% 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. Thirty-eight of 39 counties in Washington state (all but Jefferson County) were listed in the “High” transmission category, and 90.5% of all counties nationwide were “High.”
Whatcom age update
All of Whatcom County’s 17 COVID-related deaths in September and October have been in residents who had reached their 50th birthday, and 15 of them have been in people 65 and older, according to The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of age-range data posted Monday on the Department of Health dashboard.
Of the 17 deaths since Aug. 29 — 10 of which were reported last week — two were in people between the ages of 50 and 64, nine were in residents between 65 and 79 and six were 80 or older, according to the state’s data.
Hospitalizations also continued to impact Whatcom’s older residents at a high rate during the time period.
Since Aug. 29, 15 of Whatcom’s 149 hospitalizations were for people under the age of 35, according to The Herald’s analysis, which works out to about 14 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, based on 2019 U.S. Census Bureau estimates for the county. People 35-64 accounted for 62 hospitalizations (about 76 per 100,000 residents), while those 65 and older accounted for 70 hospitalizations (or about 167 per 100,000 residents).
Case rates, though, remain highest among Whatcom’s youngest residents.
Residents under the age of 19 accounted for 854 of the 2,953 total cases in Whatcom County (29%) since Aug. 29, which works out to about 1,627 cases per 100,000 residents, according to The Herald’s analysis. There were 1,293 cases (44%) in those between ages 20 and 49 (about 1,364 cases per 100,000 residents), while those 50 and older accounted for 1,013 cases (27% of all cases or about 983 cases per 100,000 residents).
Whatcom schools COVID update
The COVID-19 dashboards on Whatcom County school district websites showed:
▪ Bellingham Public Schools has reported 63 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, including four new cases listed Monday: two new cases reported between Oct. 4-8 at Squalicum High School, one case reported Oct. 4-8 at Alderwood Elementary and one case reported Oct. 4-8 at Shuksan Middle School. One case had previously been reported at Squalicum during the same time period. Close contacts of all cases 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 Monday.
▪ Lynden School District has reported 88 total COVID-19 cases in its schools through Sept. 20.
▪ Meridian School District has reported 15 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, including two new cases listed Monday: one case reported Oct. 4 at Meridian Middle School and one case reported Oct. 9 through Meridian’s Parent Partnership Program. Affected persons and close contacts have been quarantined, according to the dashboard.
▪ Mount Baker School District has reported 19 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. No new cases were reported Monday.
▪ Ferndale School District reports that as of Monday, six 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.
