CDC moves Whatcom’s COVID transmission level to ‘moderate’ as cases, hospitalizations slow

With Whatcom County’s COVID-19 cases and hospitalization rates continuing to improve, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Data Tracker moved the county’s transmission level down two levels to “moderate” for the first time since late last summer.

But the county also received a reminder of the continued seriousness of the pandemic’s impact, as the state reported two more Whatcom residents’ deaths were linked to COVID-19 Wednesday, Feb. 23.

After seeing its pandemic case total adjusted down in the last two reports on the Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 Data Dashboard last week, Whatcom’s total increased by just 35 cases on Wednesday. Wednesday’s numbers represented five days of data, as the dashboard was not updated Monday, Feb. 21, due to the President’s Day holiday.

St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham also reported it was treating 15 COVID-related patients on Thursday, Feb. 24, its smallest daily snapshot since it reported 14 on Aug. 6. The state reported only one new COVID-related hospitalization in Whatcom on Wednesday, as the county has now had 1,420 during the pandemic.