Whatcom’s COVID-related hospitalization rate creeps up, as 15 more residents hospitalized

Whatcom County had 15 new COVID-related hospitalizations reported by the state on Tuesday, as its weekly hospitalization rate crept back into double digits.

Whatcom County now has had 940 residents hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard on Tuesday, Nov. 30.

St. Joseph hospital reported Wednesday, Dec. 1, that it was treating 29 COVID-related patients, which is down one from its last report.

But Whatcom’s COVID-related hospitalization rate increased to 10.5 per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data from Nov. 15-21, the state reported. That is higher than the 9.7 rate from one week earlier (Nov. 8-14) and the first time the county had a rate higher than 10 since Nov. 13.

In the four weeks between Oct. 31 and Nov. 27, 75% of Whatcom County’s 84 COVID-related hospitalizations have been in residents 50 and older, including 40 hospitalizations (48%) among residents 65 and older, The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of age-range data released by the state on Monday, Nov. 28, shows.

During those four weeks, Whatcom had a COVID-related hospitalization rate of 95.5 per 100,000 residents 65 and older and 76.9 per 100,000 residents 50 and older, based on 2019 U.S. Census Bureau population estimates The Herald’s analysis found. For all age ranges combined, the county’s hospitalization rate was 36.6 per 100,000 residents for the same four-week period.

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the Whatcom County Health Department did not release new breakthrough data last week. But based on data released Nov. 19, 87% of the county’s COVID-related hospitalizations between Feb. 1 and Nov. 13 were in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents, The Herald’s analysis found.

During that same time frame 5.3% of the 9,709 cases in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents resulted in hospitalization (513 hospitalizations), The Herald found, compared to 3.8% of the 2,105 cases in fully vaccinated residents (80 hospitalizations).

More Whatcom COVID data

Tuesday’s report on the state dashboard also shows Whatcom County has:

▪ 16,861 confirmed cases during the pandemic — up 50 cases from the last report.

▪ 1,447 probable COVID cases during the pandemic — up nine from the last report — resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.

▪ A weekly infection rate of 162 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data Nov. 15-21 — down from 194 one week earlier (Nov. 8-14).

▪ 175 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic — unchanged from the last report.

▪ 348,103 total tests (molecular and antigen combined). The state reported that an “unexpected delay” has once again delayed the resumption of its reporting of testing data until approximately Dec. 30.

▪ 300,648 vaccinations administered during the pandemic. The state reports 68.0% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 62.8% has completed it. The state also reports Whatcom has administered 33,264 additional doses, which includes third doses for immunocompromised residents and booster doses.

Additionally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Data Tracker Wednesday, Dec. 1, listed Whatcom’s level of transmission as “High” — the highest of four categories. Twenty-three of the 39 counties in Washington state were listed in the “High” transmission category.

Whatcom monthly COVID update

Whatcom County had slightly more confirmed COVID-19 cases reported during November than it did during October, The Herald’s analysis of state data showed.

Whatcom had 1,665 confirmed COVID-19 cases (or 55.5 per day) reported during November, which was up from 1,635 reported in October (52.7 per day).

Whatcom’s death total during the pandemic climbed by 14 in November (from 161 on Oct. 29 to 175 on Nov. 30), while its total hospitalizations grew by 171 (from 827 Oct. 29 to 940 Nov. 31). But those numbers were down from October, when Whatcom saw 27 deaths and 231 hospitalizations reported to be COVID related.

Additionally, Whatcom saw 171 probable cases reported in November, fewer than the 231 reported in October.

Whatcom schools COVID update

The COVID-19 dashboards on Whatcom County school district websites showed:

▪ Bellingham Public Schools has reported 151 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, including two new cases listed Tuesday: one case at Bellingham High with a possible exposure window of Nov. 22-26 and one case at Cordata Elementary with a possible exposure window of Nov. 29-Dec. 3. Close contacts from all cases have been notified, according to the district.

▪ Blaine School District has reported 153 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Tuesday.

▪ Lynden School District has reported 252 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Tuesday.

▪ Meridian School District has reported 62 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Tuesday

▪ Mount Baker School District has reported 35 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Tuesday.

▪ Nooksack Valley School District has reported 21 COVID-19 cases in its schools Oct. 31-Nov. 6. The district had no new cases reported the rest of November, due to its schools being closed as the community recovered from recent flooding.

▪ Ferndale School District reported Wednesday that nine students or staff have had a positive test reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days — down two from the last report. Four of those people were on a school campus during their infectious period.