Clark County Public Health reported two more COVID-19-related deaths Thursday morning. The county now has eight deaths connected to the virus.
The two newest deaths are a man in his 60s and a man in his 70s. The county also reported one new positive case, upping its total confirmed cases to 131.
Five county residents in their 80s have died from complications of COVID-19. Two residents in their 70s have died, and one resident in their 60s has died.
Clark County Public Health released new information Thursday, regarding hospitalizations for COVID-19, and case counts by ZIP codes. According to the data, there are 18 local COVID-19 patients hospitalized and eight of them are in an intensive care unit.
The data also shows that the highest number of confirmed cases are in Battle Ground and the 98682 and 98662 area codes, which are mostly north and east of Interstate 205. Those three areas all have more than 16 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Public Health still urges people to assume the virus could be in any area, and doesn’t want people to think they are safe from catching the virus because they live in an area with fewer confirmed cases.
Six of Clark County’s deaths have been among men, which is in line with statistics from Europe. According to data released last month, more than 70 percent of Italy’s COVID-19 deaths have been men. China has seen similar statistics.
Women live longer than men in general in Italy and China, and some scientists have theorized that the disparity could also be tied to behavioral factors such as higher tobacco consumption for men, and a reluctance to seek medical care.
Research has also shown that women generally have stronger immune systems than men, as the X chromosome contains a heavy amount of immune-related genes, according to the Washington Post.
In Washington, women have been hospitalized for COVID-19-like illness less often than men, according to the state Department of Health. The most recent data shows that women made up 3.6 percent of emergency inpatient hospitalizations in the state last week. Men made up 4.5 percent of hospitalizations in the same time frame.
Fifty-one percent of Washington’s confirmed COVID-19 cases have been women, while 45 percent have been men — another 5 percent of cases have an unknown gender. But 53 percent of Washington’s deaths have been men, while 47 percent have been women.
As of March 31, some 1,203 people in Clark County have been tested for the disease. More recent numbers are not available because of technology issues at the state Department of Health.
