Whatcom health department still analyzing cause of recent increased COVID rate in county
The Whatcom County Health Department is taking a wait-and-see approach to determine if the recent increase of COVID-19 cases in the county is attributable to a post-Thanksgiving surge or a backlog of testing due to flooding earlier in the month.
Though epidemiological data remains incomplete beyond Nov. 30 and is likely to change as more information becomes available, the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard’s epidemiological curves show Whatcom County averaged 62.0 new confirmed cases per day during the week after Thanksgiving (Nov. 28-Dec. 4), The Bellingham Herald’s data analysis found. That included more than 75 confirmed cases per day from Nov. 29 through Dec. 1.
That is a 51% increase from the week of Thanksgiving (Nov. 21-27), when Whatcom averaged 41.1 new confirmed cases per day.
That increase is more than three times the 16% increase Whatcom County saw in 2020, when the county averaged 32.8 new confirmed cases the week of Thanksgiving (Nov. 22-28) and 38.1 new confirmed cases the week after Thanksgiving (Nov. 29-Dec. 5).
But due to a drop in testing rates from mid to late November, the Whatcom County Health Department isn’t yet ready to attribute the growth seen recently to holiday gatherings.
“During the weeks of November 14 and November 21, the number of tests performed at the community testing site dropped significantly, due to the floods and holiday closures,” Whatcom County Health Department Health Information and Assessment Supervisor Amy Hockenberry told The Herald in an email. “This past week (the week of November 28), the community testing site administered nearly the same number of tests as the week before the floods.
“Because less tests were administered during those two weeks, we may not have an accurate picture of how much transmission was occurring during that time. It isn’t clear if the current number of cases indicates an actual increase in transmission. We’ll know more in the coming weeks.”
More Whatcom COVID data
The Wednesday, Dec. 8, report on the state dashboard shows Whatcom County has:
▪ 17,331 confirmed cases during the pandemic — up 34 cases from the last report.
▪ 1,490 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 153 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data Nov. 23-29 — down from 176 one week earlier (Nov. 16-22).
▪ 972 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up four from the last report. St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 29 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Thursday, Dec. 9 — up one from its last report.
▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 10.1 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data from Nov. 23-29 — unchanged from a week earlier (Nov. 16-22).
▪ 179 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic — unchanged from the last report.
▪ 348,103 total tests (molecular and antigen combined). The state reported that an “unexpected delay” has once again delayed the resumption of its reporting of testing data until approximately Dec. 30.
▪ 309,052 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 1,291 from the last report. The state reports 68.4% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 63.1% has completed it. The state also reports Whatcom has administered 39,078 “additional doses,” which includes third doses for immunocompromised residents and booster doses.
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-seven of the 39 counties in Washington state and 79.5% of counties nationwide were listed in the “High” transmission category.
Whatcom schools COVID update
The COVID-19 dashboards on Whatcom County school district websites showed:
▪ Bellingham Public Schools has reported 161 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Wednesday.
▪ Blaine School District has reported 187 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Wednesday.
▪ Lynden School District has reported 261 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Wednesday.
▪ Meridian School District has reported 75 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Wednesday
▪ Mount Baker School District has reported 43 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Wednesday.
▪ Nooksack Valley School District has reported 26 COVID-19 cases in its schools since Oct. 31, including six new cases listed Wednesday from Nov. 28-Dec. 4: three cases in Nooksack High, one case in Nooksack Elementary and two cases in Everson Elementary.
▪ Ferndale School District reported Tuesday that 14 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. Six of those people were on a school campus during their infectious period.
