Whatcom sees another COVID-related death, but Bellingham hospital reports another decrease

St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham is treating its fewest number of patients for symptoms related to COVID-19 in nearly two months, but the state reported another Whatcom County resident’s death has been linked to the coronavirus.

The COVID-related death, which was reported Wednesday, Nov. 24, by the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard, was the 174th Whatcom County has seen during the pandemic.

The state dashboard will next be updated Monday, Nov. 29, as the health department observed Thanksgiving Thursday and Native American Heritage Day Friday.

The death reported Wednesday was for a person who first tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 8, according to The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of the state’s epidemiological data, making it the second death epidemiologically linked to the month of November. There now been 62 deaths in the county since Aug. 1.

With 7,615 total cases (confirmed and probable combined) in the county since Aug. 1, Whatcom has seen 0.8% of cases during that time frame result in death, The Herald’s analysis showed. That is still better than the county’s pandemic death average of 1.0%, according to the state’s data, and the statewide 1.2% rate.

No other information about the person who died, such as their age, gender, vaccination status or hometown, was reported.

Before the death reported Wednesday, 74% of Whatcom’s first 61 deaths since Aug. 1 were in people 65 and older, according to The Herald’s analysis of the latest age-range data released by the state on Monday, Nov. 22. An additional eight deaths (13%) were in people 50-64, while six (10%) were in people between 35 and 49.

For the entire pandemic before the death reported Wednesday, 82% of Whatcom’s first 173 deaths were in people 65 and older, according to analysis of the state data, which also showed that residents 65 and older accounted for 11% of all Whatcom cases through last week. No COVID-related deaths have been reported in any Whatcom residents younger than 30 during the pandemic, according to data released by the Whatcom County Health Department.

There were 52 COVID-related deaths in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated Whatcom County residents between Feb. 1 and Nov. 13, including 25 since Aug. 22, according to The Herald’s analysis of the latest data released Friday, Nov. 19, by the Whatcom County Health Department. For comparison, there were 21 deaths of fully vaccinated residents between Feb. 1 and Nov. 13, including 16 since Aug. 22.

Hospital sees holiday reprieve

St. Joseph’s hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 24 COVID-related patients on Friday — the same number it treated on Thanksgiving and four fewer from its previous report.

The 24 patients represent the fewest the hospital has treated since it had 23 on Oct. 3. The last time the hospital had fewer than 20 COVID patients was Aug. 8.

Overall, the state on Wednesday, reported two new COVID-related hospitalizations in Whatcom County, as its pandemic total increased to 919.

The state also reported Whatcom has a weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 7.5 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data from Nov. 9-15. That is down from Whatcom’s rate of 12.7 from a week earlier (Nov. 2-8) and the lowest rate the county has seen since it also had a hospitalization rate of 7.5 from Aug. 17-23.

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

▪ 16,596 confirmed cases during the pandemic — up 30 cases from the last report.

▪ 1,432 probable COVID cases during the pandemic — up 11 from the last report — resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.

▪ A weekly infection rate of 166 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data Nov. 9-15 — down from 197 one week earlier (Nov. 2-8) and the lowest rate the county has seen in more than a month (163 from Oct. 6-12).

▪ 348,103 total tests (molecular and antigen combined). The state reported it is still working to update testing data and hopes to fully resume reporting by Tuesday, Nov. 30.

▪ 297,466 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — up 1,271 from the last report. The state reports 67.9% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 62.6% has completed it. The state also reports Whatcom has administered 31,058 additional doses, which includes third doses for immunocompromised residents and booster doses.

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

Whatcom schools COVID update

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

▪ Bellingham Public Schools has reported 146 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, including six new cases listed Wednesday with a possible exposure window of Nov. 22-26: four cases at Parkview Elementary, one case at Sehome High and one case at Silver Beach Elementary. 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 Wednesday.

▪ Lynden School District has reported 252 total COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year, including 23 new cases listed Wednesday from Nov. 15-19: four cases at Fisher Elementary, 12 cases at Isom Elementary, three cases at Lynden Middle School and four cases at Lynden High.

▪ Meridian School District has reported 57 COVID-19 cases in its schools this school year. It listed no new cases Wednesday.

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

▪ Nooksack Valley School District has reported 21 COVID-19 cases in its schools since Oct. 31. It listed no new cases Wednesday.

▪ Ferndale School District reported Wednesday that 11 students or staff have had a positive test reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days — down one from the last report. Six of those people were on a school campus during their infectious period.