Whatcom County sees 70 new confirmed COVID cases reported Thursday
Whatcom County had 70 new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported by the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard on Thursday, Oct. 21.
The new cases bring the county’s pandemic total to 14,706 confirmed cases.
An additional 1,205 probable cases — resulting from a positive antigen test not confirmed by a molecular test — were reported Thursday, which was an increase of six from the previous report.
Whatcom’s 14-day infection rate stands at 371 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data from Sept. 29 through Oct. 12, according to the dashboard, which is down from 415 one week earlier (Sept. 22 through Oct. 5).
The latest report on the state dashboard also shows Whatcom County has:
▪ 784 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up six from the last report. St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 28 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Friday, Oct. 22 — up pme from the last report.
▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 9.7 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data from Oct. 6-12 — up from 8.3 from a week earlier (Sept. 29-Oct. 5).
▪ 153 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.”
▪ 267,231 vaccinations administered during the pandemic. The state reports 66.3% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 61.2% has completed it.
Additionally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Data Tracker Friday 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 82.43% of all counties nationwide were “High.”
Whatcom long-term care update
Whatcom County had four new COVID-19 cases and one COVID-related deaths associated with its long-term care facilities reported last week, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s latest COVID-19 Long-Term Care Report.
According to the report, which was released Wednesday, Oct. 20, and reflected data through Monday, Oct. 18, Whatcom County long-term care facilities have had 552 confirmed cases during the pandemic. The number of COVID-related deaths related to Whatcom’s long-term care facilities increased to 67, according to the state’s data.
The 552 cases mean that long-term care facilities had 4% of the total cases reported in Whatcom County as of Oct. 18, while the 66 related deaths represent 44% of the county’s death total.
Statewide, long-term care facilities have been associated with 25,096 cases (4% of the state’s total cases) and 3,034 related deaths (38% of the state’s death total).
Whatcom schools COVID update
The COVID-19 dashboards on Whatcom County school district websites showed:
▪ Bellingham Public Schools has reported 81 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, including five new cases reported Thursday: two new cases reported at Squalicum High School with a possible contact period of Oct. 11-15, one case at Shuksan Middle School with a possible contact period of Oct. 11-15, one case at Roosevelt Elementary with a possible contact period of Oct. 11-15 and one case at Sunnyland Elementary with a possible contact period of Oct. 18-22. One case was previously reported at Squalicum High School during the same possible contact 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 Thursday.
▪ Lynden School District has reported 140 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Thursday.
▪ Meridian School District has reported 18 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Thursday.
▪ Mount Baker School District has reported 26 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. No new cases were reported Thursday.
▪ Ferndale School District reports that as of Thursday, nine students or staff have had a positive test reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days — unchanged from the last report. Six of those people were on a school campus during their infectious period.
COVID case information could not be found on the Nooksack Valley School District website.
This story was originally published October 22, 2021 at 8:30 AM.
