Two Whatcom County regions see large drops in their COVID-19 infection rates last week
Two of Whatcom County’s hardest hit regions in last week’s flooding saw their two-week COVID-19 infection rates decrease last week, while two other regions saw their rates climb slightly.
The regions covered by the Nooksack Valley and Mount Baker school districts each saw triple-digit decreases in their number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents the last two weeks, according to the Whatcom County Health Department’s latest location data released on Tuesday, Nov. 23.
Nooksack Valley’s rate dropped by 44%, according to data analysis by The Bellingham Herald, while Mount Baker’s decreased 29% from last week’s rate.
But the two Whatcom regions with the highest infection rates — the areas covered by the Blaine and Lynden school districts — each saw those rates increase last week, though neither region’s gain was more than 10%.
The health department also reported that 14.3% of the county’s residents between ages 5 and 11 have initiated vaccination since that age group was approved to start receiving doses of the Pfizer vaccine earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the Blaine region reached 70% of residents in the region initiating vaccination, according to the health department data, joining Bellingham as the only regions within the county with vaccination rates that high.
The county health department releases weekly data on the location of COVID-19 cases using school districts as geographical boundaries, including each region’s number of total cases during the pandemic, infection rate, hospitalization rate, percentage of residents who have initiated vaccination and a breakdown of case rates by age. Data in this week’s report was through Saturday, Nov. 20.
Overall, Whatcom County saw a 1.9% growth in cases with 341 cases between Nov. 14 and 20 — down from the 437 new cases the county reported the previous week, according to the data.
With 778 cases in the past two weeks, Whatcom County has an overall two-week infection rate of 346 cases per 100,000 residents, based on 225,300 residents in the county. Two of the county’s regions had infection rates lower than that mark, according to the county’s data this week.
As of Monday, Nov. 22, the Washington State Department of Health reported that 67.9% of all Whatcom County residents had initiated vaccination and 62.6% had completed it.
Here is what the health department’s latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:
Bellingham: Up 2.0% (122 cases) since the Nov. 16 report to 6,316 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 256 last week to 238 this week. Approximately 78% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 11 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 in the past two weeks.
Blaine: Up 2.2% (30 cases) since the Nov. 16 report to 1,398 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 361 last week to 393 this week. Approximately 70% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 27 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Ferndale: Up 1.7% (58 cases) since the Nov. 16 report to 3,483 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 407 last week to 370 this week. Approximately 66% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 22 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Lynden: Up 2.9% (89 cases) since the Nov. 16 report to 3,133 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 744 last week to 777 this week. Approximately 55% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 28 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Meridian: Up 1.3% (13 cases) since the Nov. 16 report to 1,040 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 401 last week to 348 this week. Approximately 64% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen nine COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Mount Baker: Up 1.5% (16 cases) since the Nov. 16 report to 1,078 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 361 last week to 255 this week. Approximately 47% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 19 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Nooksack Valley: Up 0.9% (13 cases) since the Nov. 16 report to 1,383 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 654 last week to 366 this week. Approximately 51% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 35 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
