Clark County’s recent rate of COVID-19 infections continued to rise as the county entered a fourth week of increased case counts.
Clark County Public Health’s Jan. 20 report showed 2,205.9 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population over 14 days, about a third more than the 1,679.1 reported the week prior. The weekly spike was smaller than the prior week’s increase of more than double the recent cases, though it brings the rate to more than three times the peak of any previous wave of the disease.
Between Jan. 13 and Jan. 20, the health department reported 9,651 additional COVID-19 cases, up from 6,121 cases reported between Jan. 6 and Jan. 13. The recent update included 8,030 confirmed cases and 1,621 probable cases based on antigen tests. The county has had a total of 58,603 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 9,429 probable cases since the outbreak began.
There were 6,039 active cases as of Jan. 20, which are ones still in the isolation period. Active cases dropped compared to last week’s count, after seeing a surge of about 85% the week prior.
Clark County Public Health’s Jan. 20 report saw one more confirmed death from COVID-19 than last week, with 15 reported. The health department also reported an additional death suspected to be due to the disease.
The confirmed COVID-19 deaths included two men older than 80, two men in their 70s, three men in their 60s, a man in his 40s, four women older than 80, two women in their 60s, and a woman in her 50s. The suspected death was a woman in her 70s.
The additional deaths put Clark County’s total at 639, which includes 588 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 51 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 (ICU) saw a greater rise as of the health department’s update. As of Jan. 20, 20.8% of beds had either patients with confirmed COVID-19 or patients awaiting test results, up from 17.8% last week. COVID-19 patients occupied 33.9% of ICU beds in the county, up from 25% the week prior.
New COVID-19 hospital admissions saw a more than 60% increase as Clark County Public Health reported 19.2 admissions per 100,000 population in the past seven days, up from 11.8 per 100,000 the week prior.
Total hospital bed occupancy saw a marginal increase while patients in ICUs saw a marginal drop in Clark County on Jan. 20. The health department reported 97.4% of hospital beds and 98.2% of ICU beds were occupied in the county, compared to 96.8% and 98.4%, respectively on Jan. 13.
Clark County’s share of confirmed COVID-19 cases statewide stayed about the same while its deaths saw a slight increase as of Jan. 20. The Washington State Department of Health reported the county had about 5.7% of confirmed cases and 6.3% of deaths in the state.
