Whatcom’s COVID weekly infection rate reaches quadruple figures, as 2 new deaths reported
Whatcom County’s weekly COVID-19 infection rate reached quadruple digits for the first time during the pandemic, as the state reported 484 new cases and two more COVID-related deaths Friday.
The state also reported that Whatcom County has reached 70% of all residents initiating vaccination.
The 484 cases reported Friday, Jan. 14, on the Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 Data Dashboard included 364 new confirmed cases, resulting from a positive molecular test, and 120 new probable cases resulting from a positive antigen test not confirmed by a molecular test. The county has had 23,367 confirmed cases and 2,485 probable cases throughout the pandemic, according to the state.
Including Friday’s report, Whatcom County had 2,612 confirmed cases and 544 probable cases reported during the week.
Whatcom’s weekly infection rate climbed to a record high for a 10th-straight day, as the county had 1,063 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data from Dec. 30 to Jan. 5. That is up from 467 a week earlier (Dec. 23-29) and from 233 two weeks earlier (Dec. 16-22).
For comparison, weekly case rates for the post-holiday surge in January 2021 peaked at 280 cases per 100,000 residents (Jan. 5-11), and for the delta surge late last summer rates peaked at 292 cases per 100,000 residents (Aug. 25-31).
Though epidemiological data remains incomplete for Jan. 6 to 13, Whatcom County has seen 3,648 total cases (confirmed and probable combined) during the month of January, according to The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of state data, meaning at least one in every 52 residents in the county has tested positive for COVID during the first 13 days of 2022.
Case counts and case rates potentially could be even higher, as county health officials said they believe the results of many at-home tests are not reported and therefore not included in that data and that some people have not been able to schedule testing.
“We know that even those numbers ... are undercounts of what’s really happening in our community,” Whatcom County Health Director Erika Lautenbach said in an online briefing this week.
Whatcom’s most recent deaths
The two deaths reported by the state Friday brought the county’s pandemic total to 217 related to COVID, including 32 reported in the past 26 days.
The deaths reported Friday were for people who first tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 3 and Jan. 9, The Herald’s analysis of the state’s epidemiological data found, bringing the county’s epidemiological death totals for January to four.
Since Aug. 1, the beginning of the delta surge, there have been 104 epidemiological deaths, The Herald found, which is 48% of the county’s pandemic total.
With 15,439 total cases (confirmed and probable combined) in the county since Aug. 1, Whatcom has seen 0.7% of cases during that time frame result in death, The Herald’s analysis showed. That is better than the county’s total pandemic death average of 0.8%, according to the state’s data, and the statewide 1.0% rate for the pandemic.
No other information about the people whose deaths were reported Friday, such as their age, gender, vaccination status or hometown, was reported.
Through data reported by the Whatcom County Health Department on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 87% of the first 211 COVID-related deaths in the county were in residents 60 and older, including 101 deaths in residents 80 and older. Though the county has not seen any deaths of people younger than 30, the data shows, the deaths of four residents in their 30s and 13 residents in their 40s have been linked to COVID-19.
As of the Whatcom County Health Department’s latest COVID-19 Data Report released Jan. 7, 44 of Whatcom County’s 67 COVID-related deaths (66%) since Aug. 22,were in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents, The Herald’s analysis shows.
Other Whatcom numbers
The latest report on the state dashboard also shows Whatcom County has:
▪ 1,140 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up three from the last report. St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating a pandemic record 55 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Friday, which was down five from its last report.
▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 19.7 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data from Dec. 30 to Jan. 5 — a new pandemic record, beating the old record of 18.4 last seen one day earlier. The rate was up from 10.1 from a week earlier (Dec. 23-29).
▪ 1.9% of the 2,506 total cases (confirmed and probable combined) between Dec. 30 and Jan. 5 resulted in hospitalization, according to The Herald’s analysis of state data. That is down from the 2.2% rate of the 1,064 total cases between Dec. 23 and Dec. 29.
▪ 348,103 total tests (molecular and antigen combined). The state reported that an “unexpected delay” has once again pushed back the resumption of its reporting of testing data until approximately Feb. 28.
▪ 345,116 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 5,203 from the last report. The state reports 70.0% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 64.3% has completed it. Whatcom has administered 68,332 “additional doses,” which includes third doses for immunocompromised residents and booster doses, have been administered.
Additionally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Data Tracker Friday listed Whatcom’s level of transmission as “High” — the highest of four categories. All of the 39 counties in Washington state and 99% of counties nationwide also were listed in the “High” transmission category.
This story was originally published January 15, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
