With mask mandate over, Whatcom has reason to smile with lowest COVID rates since July
With Washington’s mask mandate now a thing of the past, as of Saturday, March 12, Whatcom County residents can now see each others’ smiles in public.
The Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 Data Dashboard gave reason to smile Friday, March 11, as it showed Whatcom County is on the verge of seeing its COVID-19 weekly infection rate drop out of triple digits for the first time since the onset of the delta variant.
Whatcom County’s current weekly infection rate for the most recently completed epidemiological data (Feb. 24 through March 2) stood at 107 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the dashboard. Though epidemiological data beyond that is incomplete and could change, the dashboard showed Whatcom’s weekly infection rate could dip below 100 cases per 100,000 residents in the next couple of days.
The last time the county saw a weekly rate that low was late July and early August, when it had a rate of 93 cases per 100,000 residents between July 27 and Aug. 2.
Since then, Whatcom’s weekly rate has averaged approximately 378 new cases per 100,000 residents, The Bellingham Herald’s data analysis found.
St. Joseph’s hospital in Bellingham also reported it was treating four COVID-related patients on Monday, March 14, down from counts of six and five over the weekend. Monday’s count was the lowest the hospital has seen since it also treated four on July 22, 2021.
The hospital’s daily snapshots have average 5.6 patients per day over the past week, The Herald’s analysis showed.
Another COVID death
Not all the news was positive for Whatcom County, though, as another resident’s death has been linked to COVID-19, according to the state dashboard on Friday.
Whatcom has now had 279 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic, including eight reported last week.
The death reported Friday was for a person who first tested positive for COVID on Jan. 21, The Herald’s analysis of state epidemiological data showed. So far, Whatcom County has had a pandemic-high 40 deaths epidemiologically linked to January and another 12 in February.
With 15,353 total cases (confirmed and probable combined) in the county since so far this year 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 0.8% of cases.
No other information about the person whose death was reported Friday, such as their age, gender, vaccination status or hometown, was reported.
Through data reported by the Whatcom County Health Department Friday, March 11, 87% of the first 278 COVID-related deaths in the county were in residents 60 and older, including 134 deaths in residents 80 and older. The data also shows Whatcom has had one death of a person between 10 and 19, five deaths of people in their 30s and 15 in their 40s.
The county health department has not updated vaccine breakthrough death totals in recent weeks, but between Aug. 22, 2021, and Feb. 12, approximately 61% of deaths were among the county’s unvaccinated residents.
Whatcom latest COVID numbers
Whatcom saw 84 total new COVID cases reported on the state dashboard Friday, bringing its weekly total to 209 reported last week. That was down from the 293 reported the previous week.
The latest report on the state dashboard, which is updated on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings, shows Whatcom County has:
▪ 32,289 confirmed cases during the pandemic — up 77 from the last report. Whatcom saw a total of 209 new confirmed cases reported last week.
▪ 4,4569 additional probable COVID cases during the pandemic — up seven from the last report — resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test. Whatcom saw a total of 27 new probable cases reported last week.
▪ 1,468 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up 18 from the last report. Whatcom saw 39 new hospitalizations reported last week.
▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 6.1 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data Feb. 24 through March 2 — down from 8.3 from a week earlier (Feb. 17-23).
▪ 369,114 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 196 from the last report. A total of 863 administered doses were reported in Whatcom County last week, down from 1,244 the week before. The state reports 74.5% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 68.1% has completed it.
▪ 86,169 booster vaccine doses administered and 60.8% of Whatcom’s residents to receive a booster dose have done so.
Whatcom schools COVID update
COVID infection rates in Whatcom County schools dropped by half during the first week of March compared to the previous week, The Herald’s analysis of Whatcom County school districts showed.
Though the Blaine School District has not released data since Feb. 13, the other six school districts reported a total of 30 new COVID-19 cases for the week of Feb. 27 through March 5, or approximately 1.5 cases per 1,000 students in those districts. That was down from a rate of 3.0 cases per 1,000 students from a week earlier (Feb. 20-26), The Herald found
Since returning from winter break, the seven districts have reported a total of 3,164 cases, or approximately 144.4 per 1,000 students.
Except for Ferndale, which does not report case counts from individual schools, Whatcom County elementary schools have seen average weekly infection rates of approximately 11.6 cases per 1,000 students in elementary schools, 11.9 cases per 1,000 students in middle schools and 12.0 cases per 1,000 students in high schools since winter break, The Herald’s analysis found.
The COVID-19 dashboards on Whatcom County school district websites showed:
▪ Bellingham Public Schools has reported 911 total COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 75.6 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported 17 cases the week of Feb. 27 to March 5, which was six more than the week before.
▪ Blaine School District has reported 459 total COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 197.6 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district has not updated its dashboard since data on Feb. 13.
▪ Lynden School District has reported 394 total COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 108.7 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported two cases the week of Feb. 27 to March 5, which was four fewer than the week before.
▪ Meridian School District has reported 353 COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 193.3 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported five cases the week of Feb. 27 to March 5, which was two more than the week before.
▪ Mount Baker School District has reported 293 COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 157.7 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported one case the week of Feb. 37 to March 5, which was unchanged from the week before.
▪ Nooksack Valley School District has reported 344 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 173.4 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported three cases the week of Feb. 27 to March 5, which was five fewer than the week before.
▪ Ferndale School District reported Monday, March 14, that three students or staff had positive COVID-19 tests reported to the Whatcom County Health Department, which was down from seven reported March 9 earlier.
