Whatcom’s omicron recovery slowing? Three regions see COVID infection rates grow last week
After two straight weeks of seeing weekly COVID-19 infections rates throughout Whatcom County decrease, a few regions within the county began to see their recovery from January’s omicron surge slow.
Three of Whatcom’s seven school district regions saw their weekly number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents increase last week, according to the latest COVID-19 location data released Friday, Feb. 18, by the Whatcom County Health Department, and the county’s most populated region remained unchanged.
The only regions to see their infection rates decrease last week were the areas covered by the Ferndale, Lynden and Meridian school districts, according to the county’s data.
The Blaine, Mount Baker and Nooksack Valley regions, meanwhile, all increased, and the Bellingham region stayed put, but none of the seven regions had a weekly rate higher than 950 for the first time since the final week of 2021.
Only one region saw its COVID-related hospitalization rate increase last week, as five other regions saw drops.
The county health department releases weekly data on the location of COVID-19 cases using school districts as geographical boundaries, including each region’s number of total cases during the pandemic, infection rate, hospitalization rate, percentage of residents who have initiated vaccination and a breakdown of case rates by age. Data in this week’s report was through Saturday, Feb. 12.
Overall, Whatcom County saw 935 new cases between Feb. 6 and Feb. 12 — down from the 1,277 new cases the county reported the previous week.
That gave Whatcom County a weekly infection rate of 622 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard, though that data remains incomplete and likely will change. Four of the county’s regions had infection rates lower than that mark, according to the county’s data this week.
As of Monday, Feb. 14, the Washington State Department of Health reported that nearly 74% of all Whatcom County residents had initiated vaccination and 68% had completed it.
Here is what the health department’s latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:
▪ Bellingham: Had a weekly infection rate of 528 cases per 100,000 residents (unchanged from a week earlier) with 446 new cases reported. The region’s hospitalization rate dropped to 12 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, and 83% of the region’s residents have initiated vaccination.
▪ Blaine: Had a weekly infection rate of 913 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 759 a week earlier) with 121 new cases reported. The region’s hospitalization rate remained at 16 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, and 76% of the region’s residents have initiated vaccination.
▪ Ferndale: Had a weekly infection rate of 609 cases per 100,000 residents (down from 696 a week earlier) with 108 new cases reported. The region’s hospitalization rate dropped to 11 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, and 72% of the region’s residents have initiated vaccination.
▪ Lynden: Had a weekly infection rate of 823 cases per 100,000 residents (down from 1,046 a week earlier) with 113 new cases reported. The region’s hospitalization rate dropped to 28 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, and 59% of the region’s residents have initiated vaccination.
▪ Meridian: Had a weekly infection rate of 250 cases per 100,000 residents (down from 446 a week earlier) and had its total number of cases was adjusted down by 12. The region’s hospitalization rate dropped to 18 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, and 67% of the region’s residents have initiated vaccination.
▪ Mount Baker: Had a weekly infection rate of 535 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 311 a week earlier) with 71 new cases reported. The region’s hospitalization rate climbed to 25 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, and 50% of the region’s residents have initiated vaccination.
▪ Nooksack Valley: Had a weekly infection rate of 950 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 898 a week earlier) with 88 new cases reported. The region’s hospitalization rate dropped to 26 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, and 56% of the region’s residents have initiated vaccination.
This story was originally published February 19, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
