Whatcom County sees 4 more COVID-related deaths and 393 new cases reported Friday
Four more Whatcom County residents’ deaths have been linked to COVID-19, the state reported Friday, as the county’s pandemic total of coronavirus cases grew by 393.
The deaths reported Friday, Feb. 4, brought the county’s pandemic total to 242, including 41 deaths that have been reported so far in 2022, according to the Washington State Department COVID-19 Data Dashboard. The county also has a pandemic total of 34,652 cases (confirmed and probable combined).
The most recently reported deaths were for people who first tested positive for COVID Dec. 28, Jan. 7, Jan. 16 and Jan. 19, The Herald’s analysis of the state’s epidemiological data showed. Whatcom has now had 20 deaths epidemiologically linked to January and 28 deaths linked to December.
Since Dec. 19, which is approximately when Whatcom County began to see large increases due to the omicron surge, there have been 30 epidemiological deaths, The Herald found.
With 12,553 total cases (confirmed and probable combined) in the county since Dec. 19 Whatcom has seen 0.2% 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 0.7%.
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 Thursday, Feb. 3, 89% of the first 239 COVID-related deaths in the county were in residents 60 and older, including 115 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 five 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. 28, 64% of Whatcom County’s 86 COVID-related deaths reported since Aug. 22, were in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents, The Herald’s analysis shows, including 68% of deaths reported since Dec. 19.
Other Whatcom numbers
The latest report on the state dashboard, which is now only updated on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings, also shows Whatcom County has:
▪ 30,452 confirmed cases during the pandemic — up 324 from the last report.
▪ 4,200 additional probable COVID cases during the pandemic — up 69 from the last report — resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
▪ A weekly infection rate of 1,425 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data Jan. 16-22 — down from 1,589 one week earlier (Jan. 9-15).
▪ 1,325 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up 26 from the last report.
▪ St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 47 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Friday, which was up three from its last report.
▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 31.1 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data from Jan. 16-22 — up from 25.0 from a week earlier (Jan. 9-15).
▪ 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.
▪ 360,485 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 1,185 from the last report. The state reports 73.7% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 67.1% has completed it. The state also reports Whatcom has administered 80,247 “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 all but five counties nationwide also were listed in the “High” transmission category.
This story was originally published February 5, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
