How big is omicron’s impact? Whatcom’s COVID pandemic case total jumped by 66% in January

Two out of five COVID-19 cases in Whatcom County throughout the entire pandemic were reported during the month of January, as the county wrapped up the first month of 2022 with its largest reported increase yet.

Whatcom’s pandemic case total increased by 1,414 new cases over the weekend, according to the Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 Data Dashboard on Monday, Jan. 31. The county also saw 20 new hospitalizations and one new death related to COVID-19. The previous largest reported increase in cases was 1,279 on Jan. 18.

During the month of January, that total increased by 66% or a total of 13,413 cases — far and away Whatcom’s largest monthly increase and 40% of its pandemic total, to date. The county averaged 432.7 new reported cases per day, nearly six times higher than the previous record of 73.9 per day set in September of 2021.

The county also set new monthly records for reported COVID-related hospitalizations (253) and deaths (33) in January, beating the old records of 231 and 27 from October 2021.