Here’s what’s happening with COVID-19 cases in Whatcom schools; county’s numbers

For the first time since the height of the omicron surge in mid-January, Whatcom County schools saw a weekly increase in COVID-19 cases during the final full week of March, though it was just a slight uptick.

The Bellingham, Ferndale, Lynden, Meridian, Mount Baker and Nooksack Valley School districts reported 1.7 new COVID-19 cases (33 total cases) per 1,000 students during the week of March 20-26, The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of district COVID dashboards found. The Blaine School District did not update its COVID dashboard to reflect any cases that week. The rate was up from 1.2 cases per 1,000 students reported from a week earlier.

Cases in schools peaked the week of Jan. 16-22, when there 49.0 cases per 1,000 students, but since then and until the last full week of March that rate has steadily decreased. Since returning from winter break, the seven districts have reported a total of 3,343 cases, or a weekly rate of approximately 12.7 cases per 1,000 students.