As Whatcom remembers 2-year anniversary of first COVID-related death, state reports 5 more

As the Whatcom County Health Department remembered the two-year anniversary of the first death of a resident linked to COVID-19, the state reported five new COVID-related deaths were on Friday, including the first linked to March.

As of Friday, March 18, the Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 Data Dashboard reported 287 residents’ deaths have been linked to COVID-19. The five deaths were reported one day before the two-year anniversary of Whatcom’s first COVID-related death, which was epidemiologically linked to March 19, 2020.

Whatcom County continued to see case numbers drop to pre-Delta surge levels last week, as 174 total cases (confirmed and probable) were reported last week. Though the county had smaller weekly counts of 22 and 69 cases in late February when the state dashboard was scrubbing and adjusting data following the height of the Omicron surge, Whatcom has a not otherwise seen a smaller increase since the final week of July, when 166 total cases were reported. St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, meanwhile, reported it was treating six patients for COVID-related symptoms on Monday, March 21, which was up from counts of three (Friday), four (Saturday) and five (Sunday).