Report shows Whatcom’s three most recent COVID-related deaths were among unvaccinated
Whatcom County’s three COVID-related deaths that occurred during the final week of November/first week of December were all among unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents, according to the Whatcom County Health Department.
All three deaths during the week of Nov. 28 through Dec. 4 were among unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people in their 70s, according to data in the county’s most recent COVID-19 data report released Friday, Dec. 10. Two were women and one was a man.
Since Feb. 1, 71% of the 80 total deaths in Whatcom County (57 deaths) have been in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents, The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of county reports showed, while there have been 23 deaths among fully vaccinated residents.
During the week of Nov. 28, Whatcom County saw 138 breakthrough COVID cases, along with nine COVID-related hospitalizations.
Data previously released by the Washington State Department of Health showed 142,298 Whatcom residents were fully vaccinated as of Nov. 28.
Based on that number, Whatcom’s weekly COVID infection rate the week of Nov. 28 was 97 cases per 100,000 vaccinated residents in the county, The Herald’s analysis shows. That rate was up from an infection rate of 59 the week of Nov. 21-27, when there were four hospitalizations and two deaths reported among Whatcom’s fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, the health department reported there were 338 cases among Whatcom residents who were not fully vaccinated the week of Nov. 28. That worked out to 391 cases per 100,000 unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents, The Herald’s analysis found, which was up from the case rate of 249 from one week earlier.
Additionally, the health department reported there were 27 hospitalizations and the three deaths of unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents in Whatcom County during the week of Nov. 28.
Since Feb. 1, Whatcom County’s unvaccinated or partially vaccinated population has seen more than four times as many COVID cases, more than five times as many COVID-related hospitalizations and more than two times as many COVID-related deaths compared to fully vaccinated residents.
Whatcom’s unvaccinated and partially vaccinated residents have accounted for 81% of COVID cases (10,507 of 12,948 total) and 86% of COVID-related hospitalizations (572 of 669 total), according to The Herald’s analysis of health department data since Feb. 1.
More Whatcom numbers
Other Whatcom County COVID data released Friday, Dec. 10 on the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard shows that:
▪ With 59 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported Friday, Whatcom County has had a pandemic total of 17,457 confirmed cases. The county’s case total increased by 388 last week, which was fewer than the 473 increase seen a week earlier.
▪ Whatcom saw an additional one probable case reported Friday, resulting from a positive antigen test not confirmed by a molecular test, bringing its pandemic total to 1,504 probable cases. Whatcom had 34 probable cases reported last week — six fewer than the week before.
▪ Whatcom’s weekly infection rate stands at 178 cases per 100,000 residents based on the state’s most recently completed data from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1, which is up from 169 from the week before (Nov. 18-24). Whatcom has the sixth-highest weekly infection rate of the 39 counties in the state, according to the state dashboard.
▪ With three COVID-related hospitalizations reported Friday, Whatcom has seen 978 hospitalizations reported during the pandemic. The county had 23 hospitalizations reported last week, which was down 13 from the week before.
▪ Whatcom’s weekly hospitalization rate stands at 13.6 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed data from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1, which is up from 9.2 the week before (Nov. 18-24). Whatcom has the seventh-highest weekly hospitalization rate of the 39 counties in the state, according to the state dashboard.
▪ St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported that it was treating 28 patients for COVID-related symptoms on Monday, Dec. 13, which was up from 27 Friday, 24 Saturday and 25 on Sunday.
▪ The state’s vaccination report on Friday showed the county has now administered 313,638 vaccine doses in Whatcom County — an increase of 9,408 last week, which was more than the 6,764 reported the week before. The state reported 42,432 additional doses, which include extra doses administered to immunocompromised residents and booster shots, have been administered in the county.
▪ The state estimated that 68.5% of the total population in the county has initiated vaccination and 63.2% had completed it. Both percentages were ahead of the averages across the state, which reported that 67.3% of the state’s total population initiated vaccination and 62.0% are fully vaccinated.
▪ The state is still working “to increase its capacity to process the increased testing data volume received in the last few months” by Dec.. 30.
▪ The statewide Effective Reproductive Number (R-effective) shows that each person who tests positive for COVID-19 is estimated to infect 0.83 others as of Nov. 18, which is down from 0.94 on Nov. 11. Anything below 1.0 means that transmission of the disease should be shrinking.
The CDC’s COVID Data Tracker on Monday continued to list the level of transmission in Whatcom County as “High” (the highest of four classifications). All but four of Washington state’s 39 counties are listed in the “High” category.
Whatcom schools COVID update
The Herald’s analysis of data published by the Bellingham, Blaine, Lynden, Meridian, Mount Baker and Nooksack Valley school districts, which list which schools cases are reported in, shows there have been 766 total cases reported in those districts, an increase of 62 from the week before.
The Herald’s data analysis shows there have been a total of 313 cases reported in elementary schools (27.9 cases per 1,000 students), 155 cases reported in middle/junior high schools (29.5 cases per 1,000 students) and 225 cases reported in high schools (31.4 cases per 1,000 students) so far this school year. Another 73 cases have been reported in other district programs or facilities.
The COVID-19 dashboards on Whatcom County school district websites showed:
▪ Bellingham Public Schools has reported 164 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, or approximately 13.6 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. Three new cases were listed Friday, each with a possible exposure window of Dec. 6-10: one at Bellingham High, one at Silver Beach Elementary and one at Shuksan Elementary.
▪ Blaine School District has reported 187 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, or approximately 80.5 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. No new cases have been reported since Dec. 5.
▪ Lynden School District has reported 261 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, or approximately 72.0 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. No new cases have been reported since Nov. 24.
▪ Meridian School District has reported 85 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, or approximately 46.5 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. Ten new cases were listed Friday: two cases reported Dec. 6 at Irene Reither Elementary, one case reported Dec. 6 at Meridian Middle School, three cases reported Dec. 7 at Irene Reither Elementary, one case reported Dec. 7 at Meridian High, one case reported Dec. 8 at Meridian Middle School, one case reported Dec. 8 at Meridian High and one case reported Dec. 12 at Irene Reither Elementary.
▪ Mount Baker School District has reported 43 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, or approximately 23.1 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. No new cases have been reported since Nov. 24.
▪ Nooksack Valley School District has reported 26 cases between Oct. 31 and Dec. 4, or approaching 13.1 cases per 1,000 students.
▪ Ferndale School District reports that as of Friday, nine students or staff have had a positive test reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days, down five from the previous report. Of those, five people were on a school campus during their infectious period.
