Whatcom County sees its first COVID-related death epidemiologically linked to November
Whatcom County had its first COVID-related death epidemiologically linked to November reported by the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard on Wednesday, Nov. 17.
The death reported Wednesday was the 172nd death in the county linked to COVID-19 during the pandemic, according to the state.
It was for a person who first tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 1, according to The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of the state’s epidemiological data. Though it was the first epidemiologically linked to November, it is Whatcom’s 60th death since Aug. 1.
With 7,236 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 person who died, such as their age, gender, vaccination status or hometown, was reported.
Before the death that was reported Wednesday, 75% of Whatcom’s first 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 before the death reported Wednesday, 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 COVID-related deaths have been reported in any Whatcom residents younger than 30 during the pandemic, according to data released by the Whatcom County Health Department.
Before the death reported Wednesday and three others 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 Nov. 6, including 15 since Aug. 22.
Whatcom daily COVID data
The latest report on the state dashboard also shows Whatcom County has:
▪ 16,258 confirmed cases during the pandemic — up 36 cases from the last report.
▪ 1,391 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 197 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data Nov. 2-8 — down from 202 one week earlier (Oct. 26 to Nov. 1).
▪ 898 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up four from the last report. St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 36 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Thursday — up one from its last report.
▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 12.7 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data from Nov. 2-8 — down from 15.4 from a week earlier (Oct. 26 to Nov. 1).
▪ 347,842 total tests (molecular and antigen combined) — an increase of 19,273 from the last report Sept. 14. The state reported it is still working to update testing data and hopes to fully resume reporting by Nov. 30.
▪ 291,462 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 1,231 from the last report. The state reports 67.7% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 62.5% has completed it.
Additionally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Data Tracker Thursday listed Whatcom’s level of transmission as “High” — the highest of four categories. Thirty-four of the 39 counties in Washington state were listed in the “High” transmission category along with 72.2% of all counties nationwide.
Whatcom’s COVID variant update
All 190 confirmed variant cases detected in Whatcom County over the past two weeks were the delta variant, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s latest SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing and Variants in Washington State report released Wednesday.
Since the delta variant was reported in Whatcom County in the July 6 report by the state, there have been 1,200 confirmed delta cases in the county according to the state. That represents 83% of the 1,438 total variant cases reported since then and 60% of the 2,000 variants reported throughout the pandemic.
In addition to delta, which the state classifies as a “variant of concern,” Whatcom County has at least one case of eight of the nine “variants being monitored” by the state. But beyond the delta, alpha (475 total cases) and gamma (253 total cases) variants, Whatcom has seen fewer than 50 cases of every other variant.
Whatcom’s 2,000 total variant cases, represents 20% of the 9,788 confirmed cases in the county since the first variant was reported Feb. 23.
Statewide, the report said that 8.4% of all confirmed molecular COVID-19 cases were sequenced during the month of October and 47,958 specimens (11.6% of all confirmed cases) have been sequenced since January, meaning variant counts are likely much higher.
Statewide, the Department of Health found there have been 6,795 vaccine “breakthrough” cases involving the delta variant, which represents 27% of the 25,572 confirmed delta variant cases in the state.
Whatcom long-term care update
Whatcom County had 24 new COVID-19 cases associated with its long-term care facilities reported last week but no new COVID-related deaths, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s latest COVID-19 Long-Term Care Report.
According to the report, which was released Wednesday and reflected data through Monday, Nov. 15, Whatcom County long-term care facilities have had 591 confirmed cases during the pandemic. The number of COVID-related deaths related to Whatcom’s long-term care facilities remained at 67, according to the state’s data.
The 591 cases mean that long-term care facilities had 4% of the total cases reported in Whatcom County as of Nov. 15, while the 67 related deaths represented 39% of the county’s death total.
Statewide, long-term care facilities have been associated with 26,194 cases (3% of the state’s total cases) and 3,138 related deaths (35% 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 125 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Wednesday.
▪ Blaine School District has reported 133 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Wednesday.
▪ Lynden School District has reported 217 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Wednesday.
▪ Meridian School District has reported 53 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, including three new cases listed Wednesday: one new case reported at Irene Reither Elementary Nov. 9, one new case reported at Irene Reither Elementary Nov. 10 and one case reported at Meridian Middle School Nov. 14. Irene Reither previously had three cases reported Nov. 10 and five cases Nov. 9.
▪ Mount Baker School District has reported 35 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Wednesday.
▪ Ferndale School District reported Wednesday that two students or staff have had a positive test reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days — down from seven in the last report. One 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 in an Oct. 29 letter that the district plans to soon begin releasing a weekly case count on the website.
This story was originally published November 18, 2021 at 9:38 AM.
