One Whatcom region sees COVID rate drop to lowest mark any region has seen since September
For the first time since mid-September, one of Whatcom County’s seven school district regions has a two-week COVID-19 infection rate lower than 200 cases per 100,000 residents.
The region covered by Bellingham Public Schools had its infection rate dip below 200, according to the Whatcom County Health Department’s latest location data released on Tuesday, Nov. 30.
It marked the first time since the Sept. 21 report, when the Meridian region had a rate of 187, that any region within the county had an infection rate that low.
Bellingham was not alone in seeing improvement, though, as the two-week case rates in all seven regions decreased from last week. In fact, the Ferndale, Lynden and Meridian regions all saw triple-digit decreases, according to the health department’s data.
Nooksack Valley saw almost twice as many COVID-related hospitalizations as any other area with 52 per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks. Meridian saw no COVID-related hospitalizations in the same period.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported that it was treating 31 COVID-related patients on Thursday, Dec. 2, which was up two from the previous report.
The Washington State Department of Health reported Wednesday, Dec. 1, that it would not be updating the COVID-19 Data Dashboard due to technical issues.
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. 27.
Overall, Whatcom County saw a 1.7% growth in cases with 297 cases between Nov. 21 and 27 — down from the 341 new cases the county reported the previous week and its smallest increase since the week of Aug. 1-7, according to analysis of the county data.
With 638 cases in the past two weeks, Whatcom County has an overall two-week infection rate of 284 cases per 100,000 residents, based on 225,300 residents in the county. Four of the county’s regions had infection rates lower than that mark, according to the county’s data this week.
As of Monday, Nov. 29, the Washington State Department of Health reported that 68% of all Whatcom County residents had initiated vaccination and 63% had completed it.
Here is what the health department’s latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:
Bellingham: Up 1.8% (112 cases) since the Nov. 23 report to 6,428 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 238 last week to 195 this week. Approximately 78% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen seven COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 in the past two weeks.
Blaine: Up 2.4% (34 cases) since the Nov. 23 report to 1,432 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 393 last week to 382 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 0.9% (33 cases) since the Nov. 23 report to 3,516 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 370 last week to 247 this week. Approximately 66% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen eight COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Lynden: Up 2.0% (63 cases) since the Nov. 23 report to 3,196 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 777 last week to 656 this week. Approximately 55% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen five COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Meridian: Up 1.3% (13 cases) since the Nov. 16 report to 1,053 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 348 last week to 232 this week. Approximately 64% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen no COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Mount Baker: Up 1.6% (17 cases) since the Nov. 23 report to 1,095 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 255 last week to 212 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 1.8% (25 cases) since the Nov. 23 report to 1,408 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 366 last week to 331 this week. Approximately 51% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 52 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
This story was originally published December 2, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
