Whatcom sees 2 more COVID-related deaths reported after record-high month in October
Whatcom County just wrapped up its worst month of the pandemic in terms of reported COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths, and November didn’t get off to a much better start, with two more deaths reported on Monday.
Whatcom has now had 163 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard on Monday, Nov. 2.
The two deaths reported Monday were for residents who first tested positive for COVID on Oct. 16 and Oct. 22, The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of the state’s epidemiological data showed. They represent the seventh and eighth epidemiological deaths the county has seen in October and increased the county’s total number of deaths since Aug. 1 to 51, The Herald found.
With 6,239 total cases (confirmed and probable combined) in the county since Aug. 1, Whatcom has seen 0.8% of cases during that time frame result in death, The Herald’s analysis showed. That is better than the county’s pandemic death average of 1.0%, according to the state’s data, and the statewide 1.2% rate.
No other information about the two people who died, such as their age, gender, vaccination status or hometown, was reported.
Of the 51 deaths since Aug. 1, 73% were in people 65 and older, according to The Herald’s analysis of the latest age-range data released by the state on Monday, Nov. 2.
For the entire pandemic, 82% of Whatcom’s 151 deaths were in people 65 and older, according to analysis of the state data, which also showed that residents 65 and older accounted for 11% of all Whatcom cases through last week.
Since Aug. 1, there were seven deaths in Whatcom County residents in the 50-65 age group, including four since Sept. 26. Additionally, there have been five deaths in the 35-49 age group and two in the 20-34 age group since Aug. 1, the state’s data shows.
The county has not had any deaths of anybody younger than 20 throughout the pandemic.
Before the deaths reported Monday, there were 47 COVID-related deaths in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated Whatcom County residents between Feb. 1 and Oct. 23, including 20 since Aug. 15, according to The Herald’s analysis of data released last week by the Whatcom County Health Department. For comparison, there were 16 deaths of fully vaccinated residents between Feb. 1 and Oct. 23, including 14 since Aug. 15.
Whatcom monthly COVID update
Whatcom County had more COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths reported during the month of October than any other in the 20 months since the county saw its first case in March 2020.
Whatcom’s death total during the pandemic climbed by 27 in October (from 134 on Sept. 30 to 161 on Oct. 29), while its total hospitalizations grew by 231 (from 716 Sept. 30 to 161 Oct. 29).
Most of the deaths reported during the month were epidemiologically linked to September or August.
The previous monthly highs both came one month earlier, as there were 132 hospitalizations and 18 deaths reported in September.
But Whatcom’s monthly case count was down from September with 1,635 confirmed COVID cases (or 52.7 per day) reported during October, which was less than the 1,943 confirmed cases (64.8 average) reported during September.
Additionally, Whatcom saw 231 probable cases reported in October, which also was less than the 275 reported in September.
Whatcom daily COVID data
The latest report on the state dashboard also shows Whatcom County has:
▪ 15,373 confirmed cases during the pandemic — up 177 cases from the last report. It marked the 13th-straight weekend Whatcom County has seen a triple-digit increase in case numbers.
▪ 1,281 probable COVID cases during the pandemic — up five from the last report — resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
▪ A weekly infection rate of 198 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data Oct. 17-23 — up from the 716 rate one week earlier (Oct. 10-16).
▪ 837 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up 10 from the last report. St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 37 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Tuesday — down five from its last report.
▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 13.2 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data from Oct. 17-23 — up from 9.7 from a week earlier (Oct. 10-16).
▪ The state was expected to begin reporting testing data again on Sunday, Oct. 31, after it paused that data on Sept. 15, but it now says that “an unexpected delay” will keep it from reporting that data again until Nov. 30.
▪ 277,094 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 2,972 from the last report. The state reports 66.9% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 61.8% 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 the 39 counties in Washington state were listed in the “High” transmission category (all but Columbia County), and 73.7% of all counties nationwide were “High.”
Whatcom schools COVID update
The COVID-19 dashboards on Whatcom County school district websites showed:
▪ Bellingham Public Schools has reported 106 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, including six new cases reported Monday: one case at Columbia Elementary with a possible exposure window of Oct. 25-29, three cases at Lowell Elementary with a possible exposure window of Oct. 25-29, one new case at Squalicum High with a possible exposure window of Oct. 25-29 and one case at Whatcom Middle School with a possible exposure window of Oct. 18-22. Squalicum had one case previously reported with the same exposure window. Close contacts of all cases have been notified, according to the dashboard.
▪ Blaine School District has reported 82 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Monday.
▪ Lynden School District has reported 196 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, including 56 new cases reported Monday: Bernice Vossbeck Elementary had two cases Oct. 18-22 and 11 cases Oct. 25-29; Fisher Elementary had three cases Oct. 18-22 and three cases Oct. 25-29; Isom Elementary had four cases Oct. 18-22 and six cases Oct. 25-29; Lynden Middle School had two cases Oct. 18-22 and six cases Oct. 25-29; Lynden High had 11 cases Oct. 18-22 and four cases Oct. 25-29; the preschool had three cases Oct. 25-29; and Lynden Academy had one case Oct. 25-29.
▪ Meridian School District has reported 27 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, including six new cases reported Monday: Meridian High had single cases reported Oct. 27, 28 and 30; Irene Reither Elementary had single cases reported Oct. 27 and 28; and Meridian Middle School had a case reported Oct. 26. Affected individuals and close contacts in all cases have been quarantined, the district reported.
▪ Mount Baker School District has reported 33 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Monday.
▪ Ferndale School District reported seven students or staff have had a positive test reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days — a decrease from 11 in the last report. Three 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, but Superintendent Mike Galley wrote that the district plans to soon begin releasing a weekly case count on the website in an Oct. 29 letter.
Western Washington University reported that it had 10 students and one employee test positive for COVID Oct. 25-31, as its totals for the school year increased to 86 students and five employees. The school reports that 0.9% of tests given Oct. 25-31 returned positive results (seven of 741 tests), which is lower than the 1.6% for the school year (76 of 4,784 tests).
