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Deaths from COVID-19 will continue to rise, even as the omicron wave eases and infection and hospitalization rates decline, Whatcom County’s top health officials said.

In a briefing with the Bellingham City Council on Monday, Feb. 7, Health Director Erika Lautenbach said people who succumb to COVID-19 are generally sick for three to four weeks before they die, and deaths often peak after infection rates start declining. Whatcom County has had 242 deaths from COVID-19 through the last update on the Washington State Department COVID-19 Data Dashboard Feb. 1, and 133 of those deaths were since Aug. 1 as the delta and then the omicron variants took their toll.

Washington state has the fifth-lowest age-adjusted mortality rate in the U.S., said Dr. Greg Thompson, the county health officer. “This isn’t 100% due to policies but I do think that a large portion of it can be attributed to the fact that we have been more careful than most states,” he said. The county saw no new deaths reported Monday, marking the first report since Jan. 19 that no COVID-related deaths were reported. In the nine reports since then, Whatcom’s death count has increased by 24.