The amount of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Clark County once again broke records as the current case rate more than doubled over the previous week.
Clark County Public Health’s Jan. 13 report showed 1,679.1 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population over 14 days, more than double the 715.1 reported the week prior. The current spike is nearly three times the rate reported during any prior wave of the disease.
Between Jan. 6 and Jan. 13, the health department reported 6,121 additional COVID-19 cases, up from 3,261 cases reported between Dec. 30 and Jan. 6. The recent update included 4,455 confirmed cases and 1,666 probable cases based on antigen tests. The county has had a total of 50,573 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 7,808 probable cases since the outbreak began.
There were 6,110 active cases as of Jan. 13, which are ones still in the isolation period. Active cases were about 85% more than were reported a week ago.
Clark County Public Health’s Jan. 13 report saw slightly more confirmed deaths from COVID-19 than last week, with 14 reported. The health department also reported an additional death suspected to be due to the disease.
The confirmed deaths included two men older than 80, two men in their 70s, a man in his 50s, two men in their 30s, three women older than 80, a woman in her 70s, and three women in thier 60s. The suspected death was a woman older than 80.
The additional deaths put Clark County’s total at 623, which includes 573 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 50 suspected to be because of the disease.
The number of COVID-19 patients occupying hospital beds in Clark County saw an increase while patients in intensive care units (ICUs) saw a smaller rise as of the health department’s update. As of Jan. 13, 17.8% of beds had either patients with confirmed COVID-19 or ones awaiting test results, up from 12.4% last week. COVID-19 patients occupied 25% of ICU beds in the county, up from 24.6% the week prior.
New COVID-19 hospital admissions saw an increase as Clark County Public Health reported 11.8 admissions per 100,000 population in the past seven days, up from 7 per 100,000 the week prior.
Total hospital bed occupancy including ICU beds increased to near-capacity in Clark County. The health department reported 96.8% of hospital beds and 98.4% of ICU beds were occupied in the county, compared to 90.2% and 83.1%, respectively on Jan. 6.
Clark County’s share of confirmed COVID-19 cases statewide stayed about the same while its deaths saw a slight increase as of Jan. 13. The Washington State Department of Health reported the county had about 5.7% of confirmed cases and 6.2% of deaths in the state.
