COVID cases remain highest among Whatcom’s youngest residents, now hospitalizations climb
Whatcom County’s youngest residents — those not yet eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19 — have been hospitalized with symptoms related to coronavirus at a higher rate the past two weeks.
Three of the county’s 48 COVID-related hospitalizations the past two weeks have been residents 11 years old or younger, according to age-range data released by the Washington State Department of Health on Monday, Oct. 25.
While three of 48 may not sound like a terribly high number, consider that before the past two weeks only eight residents in that age group had been hospitalized from the effects of COVID during the pandemic and there had not been any since the week of Aug. 8.
In fact, residents under age 20 have accounted for 24 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic, which is 3% of the 799 hospitalizations included in the report.
For comparison, that age group has accounted for nearly a quarter of the county’s total cases included in the report (3,926 of 16,191 total cases) and it has had the highest infection rate of all age groups for six straight weeks.
Last week, the rate was 244 cases per 100,000 residents, according to The Bellingham Herald’s data analysis using 2019 U.S. Census estimates, as nearly one-third of all cases in Whatcom County last week were among residents 19 and younger. That continued a trend that’s been seen since schools resumed in early September.
All other age groups have had weekly infection rates lower than 200 cases per 100,000 residents the past three weeks, The Herald’s analysis showed.
Increased hospitalization rates among young residents is not uncommon, the Whatcom County Health Department told The Herald in an email, citing a Sept. 10 report released by the CDC that showed weekly rates for children and adolescents, especially those between ages 0 and 4, have increased nationwide since the delta variant became the prominent variant.
“Since Whatcom County has a very high level of COVID-19 transmission right now, and given the national trends, pediatric hospitalizations are expected but still very troubling,” health department spokesperson Melissa Morin said in the email. “The best ways to protect our community’s young children is for families to get all their eligible members vaccinated and to keep their sick kids at home.”
But none of the 155 deaths during the pandemic included in the state’s age-range data have been in residents younger than 20, and only two have been in residents between 20 and 34.
Throughout the pandemic, residents 65 and older have accounted for 83% of the county’s COVID-related deaths (128 total deaths) and 47% of the county’s COVID-related hospitalizations (357 total hospitalizations). That age range has seen 11% of all COVID cases (1,767 total cases) during the pandemic, The Herald’s analysis found.
