BELLINGHAM, Wash. — In the year since the first reported positive coronavirus test in Whatcom County, the death rate has dropped through multiple infection rate spikes.
Since March 16, 2020, the state health department has reported 85 deaths attributed to COVID-19 among county residents.
That’s 0.03% of the total Whatcom County population.
As testing increased and treatment improved over the year, the number of COVID-attributed deaths compared to reported infections dropped drastically.
The three deaths in the past 30 days represented a 0.3 % death rate on total reported infections over that period.
In the first month of the pandemic, 25 people were reported to have died from COVID on just 267 reported first time positives, for a 9% death rate on reported infections.
Meantime, the 7-day rolling average of new COVID hospitalizations among Whatcom County residents has dropped to below 1 one per day.