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Whatcom County returned to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “medium” community COVID-19 risk level, but for the first time in three months, no region within the county would receive a “high” rating.

After one week in the “low” range, Whatcom County’s rate of reported COVID-19 cases crept up enough for the CDC to give Whatcom the “medium” community rating when new data was released Thursday, July 14, marking the sixth time in the past eight weeks it has received a “medium” grade. But The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of the latest location data released Thursday by the Whatcom County Health Department showed that the regions covered by the Bellingham, Blaine, Lynden and Mount Baker school districts would receive “low” ratings if the CDC drilled down to that level.

The Ferndale, Meridian and Nooksack Valley regions, meanwhile, would received “medium” rankings, The Herald found, marking the first time since mid-April Whatcom County had not had at least one of its seven school district regions with a reported case rate or hospitalization numbers that would earn it a “high” rating.