Clark County’s recent COVID-19 case rate rose for the second week in a row, though no deaths were included in the latest report.
Clark County Public Health’s April 21 report showed 35.7 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population over seven days, a 37% increase from the 26 per 100,000 reported the prior week. Even with the relatively large increase from prior weeks, the recent case rate was still significantly lower than the all-time peak of 1,715.5 per 100,000 in seven days reported in January.
Recent case rates lag behind the most recent counts of cases. The health department’s most recent case rate was based on activity from April 5 to April 11.
The health department reported 339 new cases between April 14 and April 21, more than the 205 reported between April 7 and April 14.
The update on April 21 included 279 confirmed cases and 60 suspected cases based on antigen testing. In total, there have been 74,271 confirmed and 14,690 probable cases in Clark County since the outbreak began.
Clark County Public Health’s April 21 report did not include any confirmed COVID-19 deaths for the second straight week. No deaths suspected to be due to the disease were reported, whereas on April 14 an additional suspected death was tallied.
A week of no deaths keeps Clark County’s total at 795, including 704 confirmed and 91 suspected to be due to COVID-19.
The number of COVID-19 patients occupying hospital beds in Clark County decreased. As of April 21, 4.9% of beds had either patients with confirmed COVID-19 or patients awaiting test results, lower than the 5.2% reported the week prior. There were no COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds in the county, down from 4.3% reported April 14.
New COVID-19 hospital admissions saw a slight drop in the latest data. In its April 21 report, the health department reported 1.2 admissions per 100,000 population in the past seven days, down from 1.4 admissions per 100,000 population reported April 14.
Total hospital bed occupancy in the county increased, while ICU occupancy saw a slight decrease. The health department reported 98.4% of hospital beds and 94.2% of ICU beds were occupied in the county, compared to 96.4% of all beds and 95.7% of ICU beds on April 14.
Clark County’s statewide share of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths stayed about the same as of April 21 compared to the prior week. The Washington State Department of Health reported the county had about 6% of cases and 6.3% of deaths.
