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Nearly one in six new omicron variant COVID-19 cases confirmed throughout Washington state last week was found in Whatcom County, according to a new report from the state. Whatcom had 248 new confirmed omicron cases reported in the Department of Health’s latest SARA-CoV-2 Sequencing and Variants in Washington State report released Wednesday, Jan. 19. That was an 800% increase over Whatcom’s 31 omicron cases included in last week’s report, as Whatcom has had 279 confirmed cases.

Whatcom County Co-Health Officer Dr. Amy Harley said during an online briefing Jan. 11 that the variant is likely having a large impact on the county’s recent high case counts.

“We know that virtually all the cases in Whatcom County are likely to be omicron right now,” Harley said during the briefing.