Despite large COVID case increases, most Whatcom regions see encouraging signs

David Rasbach
·5 min read

Though all seven school district regions in Whatcom County saw at least triple-digit increases in COVID-19 cases, there were signs that parts of the county may be beginning to turn the corner on the omicron surge.

Three of the seven regions — the regions covered by the Bellingham, Meridian and Mount Baker school districts — saw their two week infection rates decrease from last week, according to the Whatcom County Health Department’s latest location data released on Thursday, Jan. 27. The other four regions at least saw their rate of growth slow.

But that does not mean Whatcom’s omicron surge is finished.

Six of the seven regions still have two-week COVID infection rates of more than 2,000 cases per 100,000 residents, and four— the Blaine, Ferndale, Lynden and Nooksack Valley regions — have rates higher than 3,000.

The Mount Baker region, which became the final region to reach 50% of its residents initiating vaccination, was the only region with an infection rate lower than 2,000 cases per 100,000 residents for the second straight week.

Two-week COVID-related hospitalization rates also dropped in four of the seven regions and remained steady in a fifth, the county’s data showed.

St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 58 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Friday, Jan. 287, which was down three from its last report.

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, Jan. 22.

Overall, Whatcom County saw an 11.8% growth in cases with 3,246 new cases between Jan. 15 and Jan. 22 — up from the 3,421 new cases the county reported the previous week.

With 6,667 cases in the past two weeks, Whatcom County has an overall two-week infection rate of 2,963 cases per 100,000 residents, based on 225,300 residents in the county. Four of the county’s regions had infection rates lower than that mark, according to the county’s data this week.

As of Monday, Jan. 24, the Washington State Department of Health reported that 71% of all Whatcom County residents had initiated vaccination and 65% had completed it.

Here is what the health department’s latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:

Bellingham: Up 13.6% (1,470 cases) since the Jan. 18 report to 12,283 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 2,719 last week to 2,507 this week. Approximately 82% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 34 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 in the past two weeks.

Blaine: Up 17.3% (371 cases) since the Jan. 18 report to 2,512 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 2,382 last week to 2,939 this week. Approximately 75% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 69 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.

Ferndale: Up 11.6% (614 cases) since the Jan. 18 report to 5,893 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 3,208 last week to 3,267 this week. Approximately 71% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 42 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.

Lynden: Up 8.6% (359 cases) since the Jan. 18 report to 4,527 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 2,637 last week to 3,009 this week. Approximately 58% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 33 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.

Meridian: Up 7.1% (105 cases) since the Jan. 18 report to 1,592 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 2,469 last week to 2,086 this week. Approximately 67% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 27 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.

Mount Baker: Up 8.1% (131 cases) since the Jan. 18 report to 1,755 total cases, but the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 1,942 last week to 1,674 this week. Approximately 50% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 37 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.

Nooksack Valley: Up 10.2% (196 cases) since the Jan. 18 report to 2,117 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 2,676 last week to 3,155 this week. Approximately 55% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 70 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.