Whatcom sees 1,206 new COVID cases, 6 deaths reported, as 5 more classrooms go remote

Whatcom County saw large increases in its COVID-19 cases, hospitalization and death counts Wednesday, Jan. 26, as the state reported 1,206 new cases along with 23 new hospitalizations and six deaths related to COVID added to its pandemic totals.

The increases represent two days’ worth of data, as the Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 Data Dashboard began this week limiting updates to Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings. Additionally, the state reported that higher case rates in Wednesday’s data “do not represent a spike in COVID disease activity,” and are at least partially due to several factors, including the state’s new processor being able to process more cases and a backlog of positive tests results that was caused by system slowdown over the past several weeks during the omicron surge.

St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 61 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Thursday, Jan. 27, which was up two from its last report.