County health officials expect Whatcom hasn’t reached peak for COVID-related deaths yet
Deaths from COVID-19 will continue to rise, even as the omicron wave eases and infection and hospitalization rates decline, Whatcom County’s top health officials said.
In a briefing with the Bellingham City Council on Monday, Feb. 7, Health Director Erika Lautenbach said people who succumb to COVID-19 are generally sick for three to four weeks before they die, and deaths often peak after infection rates start declining.
Whatcom County has had 242 deaths from COVID-19 through the last update on the Washington State Department COVID-19 Data Dashboard Feb. 1, and 133 of those deaths were since Aug. 1 as the delta and then the omicron variants took their toll.
“More than half of our deaths have occurred in the last five months,” Lautenbach said.
“We have seen a really hard-hitting month in January,” she said.
Washington state has the fifth-lowest age-adjusted mortality rate in the U.S., said Dr. Greg Thompson, the county health officer.
“This isn’t 100% due to policies but I do think that a large portion of it can be attributed to the fact that we have been more careful than most states,” he said.
The county saw no new deaths reported Monday, marking the first report since Jan. 19 that no COVID-related deaths were reported. In the nine reports since then, Whatcom’s death count has increased by 24.
Though the state dashboard only noted “substantial slowdowns” in case, hospitalization and death data due to the current surge in cases, no new deaths were reported statewide Monday.
The county also surpassed 35,000 total COVID-19 cases during the pandemic in Monday’s report.
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:
▪ 30,883 confirmed cases during the pandemic — up 431 from the last report.
▪ 4,257 additional probable COVID cases during the pandemic — up 57 from the last report — resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
▪ A weekly infection rate of 1,399 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data Jan. 19-25 — down from 1,400 one week earlier (Jan. 12-18).
▪ 1,346 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up 21 from the last report.
▪ St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 46 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Tuesday, Feb. 8, which was up one from its last report.
▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 27.2 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data from Jan. 19-25 — up from 25.9 from a week earlier (Jan. 12-18).
▪ 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.
▪ 361,972 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 1,487 from the last report. The state reports 73.8% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 67.2% has completed it. The state also reports Whatcom has administered 81,265 “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 Tuesday listed Whatcom’s level of transmission as “High” — the highest of four categories. All of the 39 counties in Washington state and all but 22 counties nationwide also were listed in the “High” transmission category.
The CDC also estimates that 51.1% of Whatcom County’s fully-vaccinated population has received a booster dose.
Free test supply exhausted
The Bellingham Fire Department announced Monday in a Facebook post that it has exhausted its supply of free at-home COVID-19 antigen tests.
The Whatcom County Health Department two weeks ago announced that free COVID-19 rapid tests were being distributed at select fire stations, community food banks and libraries around Whatcom County. The tests are available through a federal program providing tests through community health centers.
The tests that were being distributed at the fire station came through Unity Care Northwest, health department spokesperson Scarlet Tang told The Herald in an email, adding “what they’re seeing is that the national supply is still tight. They aren’t sure when they’ll be able to order tests for the larger community again.”
Whatcom schools COVID update
The COVID-19 dashboards on Whatcom County school district websites showed:
▪ Bellingham Public Schools has reported 739 COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, including 41 new cases reported since Friday. One new case was reported at Kulshan Middle School with a possible exposure date of Jan. 18-21, bringing that school’s total to 15 cases with the same exposure date. Thirteen cases had a possible exposure date of Jan. 24-28: one new case at Birchwood Elementary (five total cases), two new cases at Columbia (four total cases), one new case at Geneva Elementary (seven total cases), six new cases at Kulshan Middle School (16 total cases), one new case at Shuksan Middle School (10 total cases), one new case at Squalicum High (19 total cases) and one new case at Whatcom Middle School (22 total cases). The remaining 27 cases had a possible exposure window of Jan. 31 to Feb. 4: two new cases at Alderwood Elementary (six total cases), two cases at Birchwood Elementary, one case at Carl Cozier Elementary, one case at Columbia Elementary, four new cases at Geneva Elementary (seven total cases), two new cases at Happy Valley Elementary (four total cases), one case at Kulshan Middle School, three cases at Northern Heights Elementary, two cases at Parkview Elementary, one case at Roosevelt Elementary, one case at Shuksan Middle School, five new cases at Squalicum High (nine total cases) and two new cases at Whatcom Middle School (three total cases).
▪ Blaine School District reported 417 total COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, including 54 new cases with a possible exposure window of Jan. 31 to Feb. 6: 18 cases at Blaine Primary, 11 cases at Blaine Elementary, nine cases at Blaine Middle School, 14 cases at Blaine High and two cases among district staff.
▪ Lynden School District reported 280 total COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break and has not reported any new cases since Jan. 28.
▪ Meridian School District reported 310 COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, including 54 new cases with a possible exposure window of Jan. 31 to Feb. 4: seven cases in the Meridian Parent Partnership Program, 28 cases at Irene Reither Elementary, 11 cases at Meridian Middle School and eight cases at Meridian High.
▪ Mount Baker School District reported 259 COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, including 37 new cases with a possible exposure window of Jan. 31 to Feb. 4: two cases at Acme Elementary, 10 cases at Harmony Elementary, five cases at Kendall Elementary, five cases at Mount Baker Junior High, 10 cases at Mount Baker High, two cases at Mount Baker Academy, two cases at the preschool and one case among district staff.
▪ Nooksack Valley School District reported 247 COVID-19 cases since returning from winter break and has not reported any new cases since Jan. 29.
▪ Ferndale School District reported that as of Tuesday, 44 students or staff had a positive test reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days — down 27 from the last report. Twenty-four of those people were on a school campus during their infectious period.
Western Washington University reported that it had 77 students and 10 employees test positive for COVID-19 Jan. 31 to Feb. 6, as its totals for the winter quarter increased to 816 students and 88 employees. During the 2021-22 school year, the school has reported 932 students and 101 employees have tested positive.
