Omicron on the way out? Bellingham hospital reports fewest COVID patients since Jan. 1
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported its smallest daily COVID-19 patient count since the first of the year on Wednesday, Feb. 9 — another positive sign as Whatcom County struggles to emerge from the omicron surge.
The hospital reported a daily snapshot of 40 patients currently being treated for COVID-related symptoms on Wednesday. That is down six from Tuesday’s report.
The last time the hospital reported 40 or fewer patients was when it had 39 on Jan. 1.
In the 38 days since then, the hospital has averaged nearly 56 patients per day, analysis by The Bellingham Herald found, including a pandemic record 79 patients on Jan. 18.
As of Monday, Feb. 7, the Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 Data Dashboard reported Whatcom County’s weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate stood at 27.2 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25. Incomplete data, which will likely change as more data becomes available, shows that rate could drop as low as 15.4 over the next two weeks.
The 27.2 hospitalization rate is middle-of-the-pack statewide, as it’s currently 19th highest of the 39 counties in Washington.
At-home test portal reopens
The Washington State Department of Health announced Tuesday that it has reopened its portal to order free COVID-19 rapid tests online to be used at home.
This time, a news release stated, there are 1.45 million tests available — enough for 290,000 households.
This is the third time the portal has been opened, with the state quickly exhausting its supply the first two times.
Washington state residents can order up to five tests at sayyescovidhometest.org while supplies last.
At-home tests can also be obtained through a federal program at CovidTests.gov, or by purchasing them at local retailers and pharmacies. Many insurance companies also will cover or pay you back for up to eight at-home tests per month for each person on health plans, according to the release.
Positive at-home test results can be reported to the state at 800-525-0127.
Whatcom’s latest COVID data
The state’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard is only updated on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings. Monday’s latest report on the state dashboard showed Whatcom County has:
▪ 35,140 total COVID-19 cases during the pandemic. Of those, 39% (13,756 cases) have been epidemiologically linked to 2022.
▪ 1,346 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic. Of those, 22% (293 hospitalizations) have been epidemiologically linked to 2022.
▪ 242 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic. Of those, 8% (20 deaths) have been epidemiologically linked to 2022.
▪ 358,560 vaccinations administered during the pandemic. The state reports 73.5% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 66.9% has completed it.
Additionally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Data Tracker Wednesday listed Whatcom’s level of transmission as “High” — the highest of four categories. All of the 39 counties in Washington state and all but 27 counties nationwide also were listed in the “High” transmission category.
Whatcom schools COVID update
No new cases were reported on the COVID-19 dashboards on Whatcom County school district websites Tuesday:
▪ Bellingham Public Schools has reported 739 COVID-19 cases in its schools since the winter break with new cases since Feb. 7.
▪ Blaine School District reported 417 total COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break with new cases since Feb. 6.
▪ Lynden School District reported 280 total COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break with new cases since Jan. 28.
▪ Meridian School District reported 310 COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break with new cases since Feb. 4.
▪ Mount Baker School District reported 259 COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break with new cases since Feb. 4.
▪ Nooksack Valley School District reported 247 COVID-19 cases since returning from winter break with new cases since Jan. 29.
▪ Ferndale School District reported that as of Wednesday, 43 students or staff had a positive test reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days — down one from the last report. Twenty-three of those people were on a school campus during their infectious period.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 9:57 AM.
