4 of Whatcom’s 7 most recent COVID deaths among vaccinated, as cases stay ‘extremely high’
More than half of Whatcom County’s seven COVID-related deaths reported last week were in fully vaccinated residents, according to the latest report from the Whatcom County Health Department.
Four fully vaccinated residents’ deaths between Jan. 23 and Jan. 29 were linked to COVID-19, according to the Whatcom County Health Department’s latest COVID-19 Data Report released Friday, Feb. 4. All four residents were in their 90s — one woman and three men — according to the report.
The other three deaths between Jan. 23- 29 were in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents — two men in their 70s and one man in his 80s — the report stated.
Throughout the pandemic, there have been 54 COVID-related death among fully vaccinated residents, according to the report, which represents 22% of the county’s pandemic total 242 COVID-related deaths.
Since Aug. 22, when the county started weekly reports on vaccination status, 68% of the county’s 125 COVID-related deaths (85 deaths) have been among unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents.
The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of the county’s data also showed the infection rate among unvaccinated and partially vaccinated Whatcom residents dropped by nearly a third the week of Jan. 23 to Jan. 29.
The county reported there were 1,364 new COVID-19 cases in Whatcom County among unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents, which represents 59% of the county’s 2,305 new cases that week.
Based on the 146,983 residents in the county who would have been fully vaccinated by Jan. 23, according to previous reports on the state dashboard, that leaves approximately 81,717 residents who were not fully vaccinated by that date, The Herald’s analysis found. That means that the weekly infection rate for Whatcom’s unvaccinated or partially vaccinated is 1,669 cases per 100,000 residents, which is down from the rate of 2,441 per 100,000 residents one week earlier (Jan. 16-22).
The Herald found the infection rate among fully vaccinated Whatcom County residents also was down, but not as dramatically, as the health department reported 941 COVID cases among fully vaccinated residents in the county between Jan. 23 and Jan. 29. That works out to an infection rate of 640 cases per 100,000 residents, The Herald’s analysis found, which is down from 661 cases per 100,000 residents one week earlier (Jan. 16-22).
New hospitalization data for the week was not included in the report, as the health department cited data processing errors.
In the six weeks since Dec. 19, which is when Whatcom began to experience its omicron surge in cases, 66% of COVID-19 cases (9,086 of 13,865 total cases), 74% of COVID-related hospitalizations (146 of 197 hospitalizations) and 63% of COVID-related deaths (26 of 41 deaths) have been in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents, The Herald’s analysis of the county’s data showed.
As of Friday, the state reported that 360,485 vaccinations have been administered in Whatcom County — an increase of 4,561 reported doses last week — and that 73.7% of Whatcom’s total population had initiated vaccination and 67.1% has completed it. The state also reported 80,247 additional doses, which include extra doses administered to immunocompromised residents and booster shots, have been administered in the county.
According to the CDC, people are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or their single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
More Whatcom numbers
New COVID-19 cases were down by nearly a third last week, as 2,339 total cases (confirmed and probable combined) were reported the week of Jan. 30 through Feb. 5. That was down from the pandemic high 3,398 reported the week before.
“COVID-19 cases are still at an extremely high level,” the Whatcom County Health Department said in a Facebook post Friday evening. “While signs of a downward trend continued this week, the number of new cases right now is still about 3.5 times higher than they were during the Delta surge, and our hospital and health care system are still under strain.”
Other weekly Whatcom County COVID based on data released Friday on the state dashboard shows that:
▪ Whatcom had 1,898 confirmed cases reported last week, as the county now has had a pandemic total of 30,452 confirmed cases. Whatcom had 2,727 confirmed cases reported the week before.
▪ Whatcom had 441 probable cases reported last week, resulting from a positive antigen test not confirmed by a molecular test, as the county now has had a pandemic total of 4,200 confirmed cases. Whatcom had 671 probable cases reported the week before.
▪ Whatcom’s weekly infection rate stands at 1,425 cases per 100,000 residents based on the state’s most recently completed data from Jan. 16-22, which is down from 1,589 the week before (Jan. 9-15). Whatcom currently has the 14th-highest weekly infection rate of the 39 counties in the state, according to the state dashboard.
▪ Whatcom had 62 COVID-related hospitalizations reported last week, as the county now has had 1,325 during the pandemic. The county had 71 hospitalizations reported the week before.
▪ Whatcom’s weekly hospitalization rate stands at 31.1 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed data Jan. 16-22, which is up from 25.0 the week before (Jan. 9-15). Whatcom currently has the 15th-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 45 patients for COVID-related symptoms on Monday, Feb. 7, which was up two from 43 it was treating Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 5-6.
▪ The state is still working “to increase its capacity to process the increased testing data volume received in the last few months” by Feb. 28.
▪ The statewide Effective Reproductive Number (R-effective) shows that each person who tests positive for COVID-19 is estimated to infect 1.49 others as of Jan. 12, which is up from 1.46 on Jan. 6. Anything above 1.0 means that transmission of the disease is increasing.
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 of Washington state’s 39 counties and all but 19 counties nationwide 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, shows there have been 1,910 total cases reported in those districts since they returned from winter break. For comparison, those districts reported 902 total cases during the fall.
During the week of Jan. 23 to Jan. 29, those six districts combined to report 457 cases, which was down from the 700 reported a week earlier.
The Herald’s data analysis shows there have been a total of 848 cases reported in elementary schools (75.5 cases per 1,000 students), 464 cases reported in middle/junior high schools (88.2 cases per 1,000 students) and 598 cases reported in high schools (83.4 cases per 1,000 students) so far this school year. Another 180 cases have been reported in other district programs or facilities.
The Ferndale School District does not report data in a way where total case counts can be calculated, but on Jan. 28, it reported there had been 109 cases reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days.
The COVID-19 dashboards on Whatcom County school district websites showed:
▪ Bellingham Public Schools has reported 721 total COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 59.8 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported 144 cases the week of Jan. 23 to Jan. 29, or approximately 26.3 cases per 1,000 students.
▪ Blaine School District has reported 363 total COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 156.3 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported 36 cases the week of Jan. 23 to Jan. 29, or approximately 15.5 cases per 1,000 students.
▪ Lynden School District has reported 280 total COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 77.3 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported 74 cases the week of Jan. 23 to Jan. 29, or approximately 20.4 cases per 1,000 students.
▪ Meridian School District has reported 256 COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 140.2 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported 60 cases the week of Jan. 23 to Jan. 29, or approximately 32.9 cases per 1,000 students.
▪ Mount Baker School District has reported 223 COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 120.0 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported 64 cases the week of Jan. 23 to Jan. 29, or approximately 34.4 cases per 1,000 students.
▪ Nooksack Valley School District has reported 247 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 124.5 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported 79 cases the week of Jan. 23 to Jan. 29, or approximately 39.8 cases per 1,000 students.
▪ Ferndale School District reports that as of Friday, Feb. 4, 71 students or staff have had a positive test reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days, down one from the previous report. Of those, 28 people were on a school campus during their infectious period. The 109 cases reported Jan. 28 work out to a weekly infection rate of 22.2 cases per 1,000 students.
