Whatcom sees smallest reported increase of COVID-19 cases in 2022, but adds another death
Whatcom County saw its smallest reported increase in new COVID-19 cases this year on Monday, though one new COVID-related death was reported.
Whatcom’s pandemic total of cases increased by 94 total cases over the weekend, according to the Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 Data Dashboard on Monday, Feb. 14.
The last time the county had a reported increase of less than 100 new cases was Dec. 29 when 59 new cases were reported, back when the state was still releasing updated data Monday through Friday.
The most recently reported COVID-related death, meanwhile, brought Whatcom’s pandemic total to 253.
The death Monday was for a person who first tested positive for COVID on Jan. 23, The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of the state’s epidemiological data showed, bringing Whatcom’s January total for epidemiological deaths to 28. So far, one death has been epidemiologically linked to February.
Since Dec. 19, which is approximately when Whatcom County began to see the omicron surge, there have been 40 epidemiological deaths, The Herald found.
With 13,860 total cases (confirmed and probable combined) in the county since Dec. 19 Whatcom has seen 0.3% 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% of cases.
No other information about the person whose death was reported Monday, such as their age, gender, vaccination status or hometown, was reported.
Through data reported by the Whatcom County Health Department Thursday, Feb. 10, 88% of the first 246 COVID-related deaths in the county were in residents 60 and older, including 119 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.
The Herald’s analysis of data reported weekly by the county and last updated Feb. 4 shows that between Dec. 19 and Jan. 29, 63% of Whatcom’s 41 reported deaths (26 deaths) have been among residents who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.
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:
▪ 31,757 confirmed cases during the pandemic — up 88 from the last report.
▪ 4,491 additional probable COVID cases during the pandemic — up six from the last report — resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
▪ A weekly infection rate of 761 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data Jan. Jan. 26 to Feb. 1 — down from 1,242 one week earlier (Jan. 19-25) and the lowest mark the county has seen since it had a rate of 678 Dec. 27 to Jan. 2.
▪ 1,396 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up two from the last report.
▪ St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 32 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Tuesday, Feb. 15, which was down two from its last report and matched the lowest snapshot the hospital has seen since it reported 29 on Dec. 29.
▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 23.3 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data from Jan. 26 to Feb. 1 — down from 25.4 from a week earlier (Jan. 19-25).
▪ 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.
▪ 364,683 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 1,168 from the last report. The state reports 74.1% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 67.5% has completed it. The state also reports Whatcom has administered 83,193 “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 91 counties nationwide also were listed in the “High” transmission category.
The CDC also estimates that 52.2% of Whatcom County’s fully-vaccinated population has received a booster dose.
