Whatcom returns to CDC’s ‘medium’ community risk level, as two regions would be ‘high’
Whatcom County’s stay in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “low” community COVID-19 risk level was short lived, as it returned to the “medium” level in the latest report on Thursday, Aug. 18.
It marked the ninth time in the 11 weeks since June 1 that Whatcom has found itself in the “medium” range, where masking in public situations is recommended for residents at high risk of serious complications from COVID and those who could potentially expose those at high risk.
It was the county’s COVID-related hospitalization rate that pushed it into the “medium” range, as Whatcom had its lowest weekly reported case rate since mid-April.
Additionally, The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of the latest location data released Thursday, Aug. 19, by the Whatcom County Health Department showed that two regions — those covered by the Meridian and Nooksack Valley school districts — would receive “high” rankings if the CDC were to drill down to that level. The Lynden region, meanwhile, would receive a “medium” grade, while the other four — Bellingham, Blaine, Ferndale and Mount Baker — were all in the “low” range.
Again, it was the hospitalization rates that held back the Lynden, Meridian and Nooksack regions, as all seven regions in the county had reported case rates small enough to make the “low” range, The Herald found.
To be classified in the “low” level by the CDC, counties must have:
▪ Fewer than 200 new cases per 100,000 residents in the past seven days.
▪ Fewer than 10 new COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past seven days.
▪ Less than 10% of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.
While masking is recommended for everyone in public settings within counties with “high” community levels and those with increased risk of serious complications at the “medium” level, masking in most indoor situations is not included among the CDC’s recommended guidelines for communities in the “low” level.
At every level, the CDC says people “can wear a mask based on personal preference” and should wear a mask if they have COVID symptoms, test positive or have possible exposure.
As of Friday, Aug. 19, St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 10 COVID-related patients — its lowest daily snapshot in more than a month since it reported 10 patients on July 15. That would give it an average of 16.1 COVID-related patients per day over the past week (Aug. 13-19) — up from 15.4 one week earlier (Aug. 6-12) but well within the CDC’s “low” guidelines with 6.4% of the hospital’s 252 inpatient beds filled by COVID patients.
The Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard’s update on Wednesday, Aug. 17, showed Whatcom County had a weekly reported case rate of 129 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data from Aug. 2-8 and a hospitalization rate of 8.8 new COVID-related patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently complete epidemiological data from July 31 to Aug. 6.
For the entire pandemic, Whatcom County has had 45,507 cases with 1,852 hospitalizations and 324 deaths related to COVID-19, as of Wednesday’s dashboard update.
Here is what the health department’s latest data showed for the seven regions in the county for the week of Aug. 7-13:
▪ Bellingham: Had 124 new reported cases, 10 new hospitalizations and no new deaths reported, increasing its pandemic totals to 20,103 cases, 668 hospitalizations and 157 deaths. Its weekly reported case rate of 93 cases per 100,000 residents was down from 130 from one week earlier.
▪ Blaine: Had 17 new reported cases, one new hospitalization and no new deaths reported, increasing its pandemic totals to 3,744 cases, 139 hospitalizations and 26 deaths. Its weekly reported case rate of 96 cases per 100,000 residents was down from 158 one week earlier.
▪ Ferndale: Had 42 new reported cases, two new hospitalizations and no new deaths reported, increasing its pandemic totals to 8,224 cases, 385 hospitalizations and 54 deaths. Its weekly reported case rate of 125 cases per 100,000 residents was down from 193 one week earlier.
▪ Lynden: Had 25 new reported cases, four new hospitalizations and no new deaths reported, increasing its pandemic totals to 5,881 cases, 288 hospitalizations and 39 deaths. Its weekly reported case rate of 121 cases per 100,000 residents was down from 174 one week earlier.
▪ Meridian: Had 20 new reported cases, four new hospitalizations and no new deaths reported, increasing its pandemic totals to 2,081 cases, 99 hospitalizations and 13 deaths. Its weekly reported case rate of 170 cases per 100,000 residents was up from 17 one week earlier.
▪ Mount Baker: Had 10 new reported cases, one new hospitalization and one new death reported, increasing its pandemic totals to 2,442 cases, 143 hospitalizations and 19 deaths. Its weekly reported case rate of 66 cases per 100,000 residents was down from 113 one week earlier.
▪ Nooksack Valley: Had 17 new reported cases, four new hospitalizations and no new deaths reported, increasing its pandemic totals to 2,847 cases, 128 hospitalizations and 13 deaths. Its weekly reported case rate of 157 cases per 100,000 residents was down from 259 one week earlier.
The Whatcom County Health Department announced Friday that this will be the final report including data broken down by school district, due to small populations in some of regions making comparisons “difficult” and cases going unreported due to unreported at-home test results.
This story was originally published August 20, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
