Three more COVID-related deaths reported in Whatcom County, and hospitalizations increase
Three more Whatcom County residents’ deaths have been linked to COVID-19, the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard reported on Monday, Nov. 15, and the county’s number of COVID-related hospitalizations also increased.
Whatcom has now had 171 deaths related to COVID-19, according to the state’s data.
The deaths reported Monday were for residents who first tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 19, 26 and 30, The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of the state’s epidemiological data showed. They bring the county’s total of death epidemiologically linked to October to 16 and Whatcom’s total number of deaths since Aug. 1 to 59, The Herald found. No deaths have been epidemiologically linked to November yet.
With 7,162 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 still 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 people who died, such as their age, gender, vaccination status or hometown, was reported.
Including the deaths reported Monday, 75% of Whatcom’s 59 deaths since Aug. 1 were in people 65 and older, according to The Herald’s analysis of the latest age-range data released by the state on Monday. An additional seven deaths (12%) were in people 50-64, while six (10%) were in people between 35 and 49.
For the entire pandemic, 82% of Whatcom’s first 171 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. No deaths have been reported in any Whatcom residents younger than 20, according to the state data.
Before the deaths that were reported Monday, there were 49 COVID-related deaths in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated Whatcom County residents between Feb. 1 and Nov. 6, including 22 since Aug. 22, according to The Herald’s analysis of data released Friday, Nov. 12, by the Whatcom County Health Department. For comparison, there were 20 deaths of fully vaccinated residents between Feb. 1 and Oct. 23, including 15 since Aug. 22.
Whatcom’s age-range data
Whatcom’s oldest residents saw an increase in their number of cases last week, according The Herald’s analysis of the state’s age-range data released Monday.
According to the state data, Whatcom County residents 50 and older accounted for 27% of the county’s total cases between Nov. 7 and 13 (112 of 422). That’s up from 22% of the cases the week before (97 of 443 cases).
All age groups younger than 50 (except for those between ages 12 and 19, which remained the same) saw decreases in their number of new COVID cases last week.
Eighteen of the 19 COVID-related hospitalizations reported last week were also in residents 50 and older, the state reported.
Since Aug. 1, there have been 368 COVID-related hospitalizations in the county, with 73% of them being in residents 50 and older, The Herald’s analysis found.
Whatcom daily COVID data
The latest report on the state dashboard also shows Whatcom County has:
▪ 16,191 confirmed cases during the pandemic — up 188 cases from the last report. It marked the 15th-straight weekend report that Whatcom County had a triple-digit increase in confirmed cases.
▪ 1,385 probable COVID cases during the pandemic — up four from the last report — resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
▪ A weekly infection rate of 194 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data Oct. 31 to Nov. 6 — down from 204 one week earlier (Oct. 24-30).
▪ 888 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up seven from the last report. St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 35 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Tuesday, Nov. 16 — up three from its last report.
▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 11.8 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data from Oct. 31 to Nov. 6 — down from 14.9 from a week earlier (Oct. 24-30).
▪ The state was expected to begin reporting testing data again 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.
▪ 290,231 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 4,755 from the last report. The state reports 67.6% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 62.4% 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-five of the 39 counties in Washington state were listed in the “High” transmission category along with 71.3% of all counties nationwide.
Whatcom schools COVID update
The COVID-19 dashboards on Whatcom County school district websites showed:
▪ Bellingham Public Schools has reported 123 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Monday.
▪ Blaine School District has reported 133 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Monday.
▪ Lynden School District has reported 217 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Monday.
▪ Meridian School District has reported 50 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Monday.
▪ Mount Baker School District has previously reported 35 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Monday.
▪ Ferndale School District did not update its dashboard Monday. It reported Friday that seven students or staff have had a positive test reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days — down from 14 in the last report. Four 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 13 students and no employees test positive for COVID Nov. 8-14, as its totals for the school year increased to 111 students and six employees. The school reports that 1.6% of tests given Nov. 8-14 returned positive results (12 of 779 tests), which equal to the 1.6% for the school year (99 of 6,362 tests).
