4 Whatcom regions post single-digit COVID infection rates ... the other 3 were even lower

For the first time since the Whatcom County Health Department began reporting COVID-19 data by school district region 21 months ago, all seven regions within the county posted weekly infection rates below 10 at the same time.

Three of the regions — the areas covered by the Lynden, Meridian and Mount Baker school districts — actually had rates below single digits with weekly infection rates of zero new COVID cases per 100,000 residents, according to the heath department’s latest location data released Thursday, March 24. Before the latest report, Whatcom County regions had only posted 30 weekly infection rates lower than 10 cases per 100,000 residents, with all but four of them coming during early stages of the pandemic in 2020.

St. Joseph’s hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating six COVID-related patients on Friday, March 25, which was unchanged from its last report and gave it an average daily snapshot of 5.7 patients over the past week. That represents 2.3% of the hospital’s 252 inpatient beds, meaning the county, as a whole, is well below all three thresholds used by the CDC to determine COVID community levels.