Clark County’s recent COVID-19 case rate is close to the lowest it has been since the county began keeping track of cases as the county saw an eighth-straight week of decline on Thursday.
Clark County Public Health’s March 24 report showed 53.9 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population over 14 days, down from the 77.9 reported the week prior. The rate is the third-lowest reported by the health department since it began tracking the rates in July 2020.
The health department reported 734 new cases between March 17 and March 24, fewer than the 1,191 reported between March 10 and March 17. The update on March 24 included 699 confirmed cases and 35 suspected cases based on antigen testing. In total, there have been 73,305 confirmed and 14,306 probable cases in Clark County since the outbreak began.
Clark County Public Health’s March 24 report tallied four more confirmed COVID-19 deaths, half of the eight reported on March 17. The health department did not report any deaths suspected to be due to the disease.
The confirmed deaths included two men and a woman in their 70s, and a woman older than 80. The deaths put Clark County’s total at 782, including 697 confirmed and 85 suspected to be due to COVID-19.
The number of COVID-19 patients occupying hospital beds in Clark County saw a decrease including those in intensive care unit (ICU) beds. As of March 24, 5.1% of beds had either patients with confirmed COVID-19 or patients awaiting test results, down from 6.7% the prior week. COVID-19 patients occupied 3.6% of ICU beds in the county, lower than the 6.4% reported the week prior.
New COVID-19 hospital admissions decreased by about 60%. Clark County Public Health reported 2.6 admissions per 100,000 population in the past seven days, down from 6.4 per 100,000 the week prior.
Total hospital bed occupancy in the county stayed close to the same as last week though ICU bed occupancy rose. The health department reported 96.4% of hospital beds and 96.4% of ICU beds were occupied in the county, compared to 96.3% and 93.6%, respectively on March 17.
Clark County’s statewide share of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths stayed about the same as of March 24 compared to the prior week. The Washington State Department of Health reported the county had about 6% of cases and 6.3% of deaths.
