Clark County’s rate of recent COVID-19 cases continues its downward slide though deaths from the disease continue to hover around 20 per week.
Clark County Public Health’s Oct. 21 update showed 379 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 14 days, down from 412.5 cases per 100,000 on Oct. 14. The decrease was the fourth week in a row of decline, and the lowest the rate has been since August.
The health department’s update showed 1,004 additional COVID-19 cases between Oct. 14 and Oct. 21, including 869 confirmed cases and 135 probable ones based on antigen testing. Those new cases put Clark County’s total at 36,573 confirmed cases and 3,888 probable cases since the outbreak began. There were 1,143 active cases as of the Oct. 21 report, which are ones in the isolation period.
Clark County Public Health reported 21 more confirmed COVID-19 deaths and one suspected death on Oct. 21. The confirmed deaths included three men older than 80, five men in their 70s, three men in their 60s, a man in his 50s, three men in their 40s, four women older than 80, a woman in her 70s, and a woman in her 60s. The suspected COVID-19 death was a woman older than 80.
Those deaths put the county’s total at 473, including 433 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 40 suspected to be because of the disease, Clark County Public Health reported.
Slightly fewer COVID-19 patients were occupying hospital beds in Clark County as of the health department’s update. As of Oct. 21, 14.7% of beds had either patients with confirmed COVID-19 or ones awaiting test results, down from 15.1% on Oct. 14. COVID-19 patients occupied 30.2% of intensive care unit (ICU) beds in the county, down from 31.7% the prior week.
New COVID-19 hospital admissions remained on the decline, as Clark County Public Health reported 10.2 admissions per 100,000 population in the past seven days, down from 13.4 per 100,000 the week prior.
Total hospital bed occupancy saw a slight increase, though fewer ICU beds in Clark County had patients as of the health department’s Oct. 21 report. The health department reported 93.1% of hospital beds and 73% of ICU beds were occupied in the county, compared to 91.4% and 93.7%, respectively on Oct. 14.
Clark County’s share of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths statewide saw a slight increase as of Oct. 21. Washington State Department of Health data showed the county had roughly 5.8% confirmed cases and about 5.7% of deaths in the state.
