Bellingham hospital reports it’s treating its fewest COVID-related patients in a month
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham is treating its fewest number of patients for symptoms related to COVID-19 in more than a month.
The hospital reported Tuesday, Nov. 23, that it was treating 28 COVID-related patients, which is down six from Monday’s report.
The last time the hospital treated 28 or fewer COVID-related patients was on Oct. 22, and it has not had fewer than 30 COVID-related patients since it had 29 on Nov. 13.
Overall, the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard on Monday, Nov. 22, reported five new COVID-related hospitalizations in Whatcom County over the weekend, as its pandemic total increased to 912.
The state also reported Whatcom has a weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 10.5 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data from Nov. 7-13. That is down from Whatcom’s rate of 11.8 from a week earlier (Oct. 31 to Nov. 6).
Monday’s report on the state dashboard also shows Whatcom County has:
▪ 16,512 confirmed cases during the pandemic — up 172 cases from the last report. It marked the 16th straight week Whatcom had a triple-digit increase reported over the weekend.
▪ 1,416 probable COVID cases during the pandemic — down three from the last report — resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
▪ A weekly infection rate of 199 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data Nov. 7-13 — up from 195 one week earlier (Oct. 31 to Nov. 6).
▪ 173 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic — unchanged from the last report.
▪ 348,103 total tests (molecular and antigen combined). The state reported it is still working to update testing data and hopes to fully resume reporting by Nov. 30.
▪ 296,195 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 3,120 from the last report. The state reports 67.9% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 62.7% has completed it. The state also reports Whatcom has administered 30,159 additional doses, which includes third doses for immunocompromised residents and booster doses.
Whatcom schools COVID update
The COVID-19 dashboards on Whatcom County school district websites showed:
▪ Bellingham Public Schools has reported 136 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, including two new cases listed Monday with a possible exposure window of Nov. 15-19: one case at Northern Heights Elementary and one new case at Squalicum High. One case had previously been reported at Squalicum High with the same exposure window. Close contacts from all cases have been notified, according to the district.
▪ Blaine School District has reported 153 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Monday.
▪ Lynden School District has reported 229 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Monday.
▪ Meridian School District has reported 57 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Monday.
▪ Mount Baker School District has reported 35 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Monday.
▪ Nooksack Valley School District has reported 21 COVID-19 cases in its schools since Oct. 31. It listed no new cases Monday.
▪ Ferndale School District reported Monday that four students or staff have had a positive test reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days — down three from the last report. One of those people was on a school campus during their infectious period.
Western Washington University reported that it had 10 students and four employees test positive for COVID-19 Nov. 15-21, as its totals for the school year increased to 121 students and 10 employees. The school reports that 1.0% of tests given Nov. 15-21 returned positive results (seven of 731 tests), which is lower than the 1.5% for the school year (106 of 7,094 tests). The school also reports that 95.2% of students and 97.2% of employees are fully vaccinated.
