Whatcom County nearly sees number of COVID cases double for second straight month in May

Whatcom County’s number of new COVID-19 cases saw a big increase for the second straight month, but monthly case rates remained well below the peak seen earlier this year.

A total of 2,382 new COVID cases in Whatcom County were epidemiologically linked to the month of May, according to the latest update on the Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 Data Dashboard Friday, June 12. That’s an 84% increase over the 1,292 cases epidemiologically linked to April, which was a 103% increase over the 638 new cases seen in March within the county. The 2,382 cases were the fifth most Whatcom has seen during any month of the pandemic, but is still well behind the 12,543 cases epidemiologically linked to January during the omicron surge.

COVID-related hospitalizations also were up 121% in May, with 73 patients admitted with COVID-related symptoms during the month, which was up from 33 in April. COVID-related deaths held relatively steady, though, with five in May, compared to four a month earlier.