Whatcom surpasses 300 COVID-related deaths, as U.S. sees 1 millionth death of pandemic

In the same week the United States reached 1 million deaths during the pandemic, Whatcom County surpassed 300 COVID-related deaths.

Whatcom County has had 301 COVID-releated deaths over the past two-plus years, according to the latest update of the Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 Data Dashboard on Friday, May 13, including three new deaths reported last week.

While one of the three deaths reported last week was a person who first tested positive for COVID last year (May 3, 2021), The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of of the state’s epidemiological data found, the two others were people who died tested positive much more recently — April 28 and May 3, 2022.

Those two deaths represent the first death epidemiologically linked to May and the third in April, The Herald found, and brought Whatcom’s epidemiological death total so far in 2022 to 82. There were 187 deaths linked to 2021.

No other information about the three most recent COVID-related deaths — such as the age, vaccination status, hometown or gender of the people who died — was reported.

Based on data reported Thursday, May 12, by the Whatcom County Health Department, The Herald found that more than 81% of Whatcom County’s COVID-related deaths through May 7 have been among residents 65 and older and another 17% were among residents between 35 and 64.

Whatcom’s weekly COVID data

As of Friday, the state reported Whatcom County has seen 39,343 total cases (confirmed and probable combined) during the pandemic, which was an increase of 623 from the week before. That is the largest increase Whatcom has seen since it saws 1,502 cases reported the week of Feb. 6-12.

St. Joseph’s hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 12 COVID-related patients on Monday, May 16. Over the past week, the hospital has averaged 10.4 patients per day, which is its highest weekly average since March 10 and represents 4.1% of the hospital’s 252 inpatient beds.

Through Friday’s update, the state dashboard reported Whatcom County has:

▪ 34,494 confirmed COVID-19 cases during the pandemic — an increase of 544 from the week before.

▪ 4,849 additional probable COVID cases during the pandemic — up 79 cases from the week before — resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.

▪ A weekly infection rate of 212 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data April 28 to May 4 — up from 193 one week earlier (April 21-27).

▪ 1,578 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up 22 from the week before.

▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 7.9 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data April 28 to May 4 — up from 3.5 from a week earlier (April 21-27).

▪ 4,083 tests (molecular and antigen combined) completed during the most recently completed epidemiological data April 27 to May 3, with 12.0% of the tests returning a positive result. A week earlier (April 20-26) the state reported 3,891 tests completed and 10.7% returning positive results. The state’s data does not include at-home rapid tests that were not reported.

▪ 1,523 confirmed omicron variant cases and 2,095 confirmed delta variant cases, according to the weekly SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing and Variants in Washington State released Wednesday, May 11. That was an increase of 247 omicron cases and no delta cases since the week before, though, with just 9.1% of all confirmed COVID cases in the state sequenced during the month of April, those numbers are likely much higher.

▪ 388,225 vaccinations administered during the pandemic — an increase of 2,492 from the week before. Whatcom had 2,355 administered vaccine doses reported the previous week. The state reports 75.3% of Whatcom County’s total population has initiated vaccination and 69.0% has completed it.

▪ 90,163 booster vaccine doses administered, meaning 61.5% of Whatcom’s residents eligible to receive a booster dose have done so.

Whatcom’s vaccination status

Whatcom County saw case rates drop among both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents the week of May 1-7,

The Herald’s analysis of the data reported by the Whatcom County Health Department found:

▪ Unvaccinated residents: The county data showed 103 new cases, five new hospitalizations and no new deaths among the county’s unvaccinated residents the week of May 1-7. Based on the state’s vaccination data, Whatcom’s unvaccinated residents had an infection rate of 142 new cases per 100,000 residents during the week (down from 194 a week earlier) and a hospitalization rate of seven new patients per 100,000 residents (down from 10 a week earlier).

▪ Fully vaccinated residents: The county data showed 119 new cases, five new hospitalizations and no new deaths among the county’s fully vaccinated residents the week of May 1-7. Based on the state’s vaccination data, Whatcom’s fully vaccinated residents had an infection rate of 76 new cases per 100,000 residents during the week (down from 81 a week earlier) and a hospitalization rate of three new patients per 100,000 residents (up from one a week earlier).

▪ Fully vaccinated and single boosted residents: The county data showed 203 new cases, six new hospitalizations among the county’s fully vaccinated residents who have received a booster dose the week of May 1-7. Due to privacy laws, a death total was not released, as there are fewer than 10 fully vaccinated and single boosted residents in the county who have died. Based on the state’s vaccination data, Whatcom’s fully vaccinated and single boosted residents had an infection rate of 203 new cases per 100,000 residents during the week (down from 274 a week earlier) and a hospitalization rate of seven new patients per 100,000 residents (up from six a week earlier).

▪ Fully vaccinated and double boosted residents: The county data showed 12 new cases among the county’s fully vaccinated residents who have received two booster doses the week of May 1-7. Due to privacy laws, hospital and death totals were not released, as there are fewer than 10 fully vaccinated and double-boosted residents in the county who have been hospitalized or died. The state is not reporting the number of residents who have received two booster doses, so infection rates could not be determined.

Whatcom schools COVID report

COVID-19 case rates in Whatcom County schools dropped slightly during the first week of May.

Whatcom County’s seven school districts reported a total 219 COVID cases between May 1 and 7. Based on student enrollment, that works out to approximately 10.0 cases per 1,000 students, The Herald’s analysis found.

That was down from the rate of 11.5 cases per 1,000 students a week earlier (April 24-30), The Herald found.

There have been 141 cases reported so far last week (May 8-14), with just the Bellingham, Ferndale and Meridian school districts reporting, which works out to a rate of 11.6 cases per 1,000 students in those three districts.

Since returning from winter break, the seven districts have reported a total of 4,274 cases, or a weekly rate of approximately 13.0 cases per 1,000 students.

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

▪ Bellingham Public Schools has reported 1,523 total COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or a weekly rate of 14.6 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported 115 cases the week of May 1-7, which was down 34 from the week before.

▪ Blaine School District has reported 695 total COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or a weekly rate of 17.6 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported 20 cases the week of May 1-7, which was down 29 from the week before.

▪ Lynden School District has reported 447 total COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or a weekly rate of 7.7 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported seven cases the week of May 1-7, which was down 10 from the week before.

▪ Meridian School District has reported 387 COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or a weekly rate of 11.8 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported nine cases the week of May 1-7, which was up five from the week before.

▪ Mount Baker School District has reported 318 COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or a weekly rate of 10.1 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported 12 cases the week of May 1-7, which was up four from the week before.

▪ Nooksack Valley School District has reported 358 cases in its schools since winter break, or a weekly rate of 10.6 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported two cases the week of May 1-7, which was down one from the week before.

▪ Ferndale School District reported Monday, May 16, that 16 students or staff had positive COVID-19 tests reported to the Whatcom County Health Department, which was down from the 20 it reported on May 9.