Clark County reports first COVID-19 case rate decrease of the year as 30 deaths are tallied

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Clark County’s recent COVID-19 case rate saw its first decrease of 2022, but 30 deaths were tallied in the latest health department update.

Clark County Public Health’s Feb. 3 report showed 2,409.5 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population over 14 days, down from 2,549.1 reported the week prior. The most recent case rate was the first time numbers declined after five weeks of increase, though it remains about four times higher than the peak of any previous wave of the disease.

Although the recent case rate declined, the total number of new cases in a seven-day timeframe increased with 5,096 cases reported Feb. 3 compared to 4,207 reported Jan. 27. The recent case rate is delayed by several days compared to Clark County Public Health’s latest case counts.

New cases included 3,702 confirmed and 1,394 probable cases based on antigen testing. In total, Clark County has had 63,979 confirmed and 13,356 probable COVID-19 cases since the outbreak began.

As of Feb. 3. Clark County Public Health reported 6,003 active cases, which are ones still in the isolation period. Active cases were about 11% lower than they were the prior week.

Clark County Public Health’s Feb. 3 report tallied 27 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, which was an increase from the 22 confirmed COVID-19 deaths reported the previous week. The health department also reported three deaths suspected to be due to the disease.



The additional confirmed deaths included 10 men older than 80, three men in their 70s, a man in his 60s, two men in their 50s, four women older than 80, three women in their 70s, two women in their 60s, a woman in her 50s and a woman in her 20s. The suspected COVID-19 deaths included a man older than 80, a man in his 50s and a woman older than 80.

The deaths put Clark County’s total at 697 since the start of the pandemic, which includes 637 confirmed and 60 suspected to be due to the disease.

The number of COVID-19 patients occupying all hospital beds and intensive care unit (ICU) beds in Clark County saw an increase as of the health department’s update. As of Feb. 3, 27.4% of beds had either patients with confirmed COVID-19 or patients awaiting test results, up from 23.3% last week. COVID-19 patients occupied 34% of ICU beds in the county, up from 32.7% the week prior.

New COVID-19 hospital admissions also increased as Clark County Public Health reported 18 admissions per 100,000 population in the past seven days, up from 16.7 per 100,000 the week prior. 

Total hospital bed occupancy saw a marginal decrease while patients in the ICU saw a greater drop in Clark County on Feb. 3. The health department reported 97.2% of hospital beds and 94.3% of ICU beds were occupied in the county, compared to 97.7% and 96.4%, respectively on Jan. 27.

Clark County’s statewide share of confirmed COVID-19 cases remained about the same while deaths saw a slight rise. As of Feb. 3 the Washington State Department of Health reported the county had about 5.7% of confirmed cases and 6.4% of deaths in the state.