Whatcom’s COVID-related hospitalization rate drops to lowest mark in more than 8 months
Whatcom County’s weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate dropped to its lowest mark since mid July, while its infection rate remained steady over the weekend.
The county has now seen 37,150 total COVID-19 cases (confirmed and probable combined) during the pandemic, including an increase of 52 reported cases last weekend, the Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 Data Dashboard reported on Monday, March 28.
Additionally, Whatcom’s weekly hospitalization rate dropped to 2.2 new COVID-related patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data from March 13-19. The last time the county’s rate was that low was July 10-16.
St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating five COVID-related patients Tuesday, March 29, which was unchanged from Monday’s report. Over the past week, the hospital’s daily snapshot of COVID-related patients is 5.7 per day, which represents 2.3% of the 252 inpatient beds at the hospital.
The latest report on the state dashboard, which is updated on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings, also shows Whatcom has:
▪ 32,631 confirmed cases during the pandemic — up 44 from the last report.
▪ 4,519 additional probable COVID cases during the pandemic — up eight from the last report — resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
▪ A weekly infection rate of 55 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data March 13-19 — down from 56 one week earlier (March 6-12).
▪ 1,518 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up one from the last report.
▪ 289 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic — unchanged from the last report.
▪ 371,051 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 342 from the last report. The state reports 74.7% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 68.4% has completed it.
▪ 87,378 booster vaccine doses administered, meaning 61.0% of Whatcom’s residents eligible to receive a booster dose have done so.
