Clark County reported 16 deaths from COVID-19 and 685 new cases in the past week as disease activity remained high, according to Clark County Public Health.
The deaths included one woman in her 40s, one woman in her 50s, one man and one woman in their 60s, three men and one woman in their 70s, and four men and four women age 80 or over, according to information released Thursday. It was the highest number of deaths recorded in a week since mid-October. Seven deaths were recorded last week.
To date, 561 people have died from COVID-19 in Clark County. Deaths are added to the county’s total 10 to 12 days after they occur.
The uptick in deaths came as the number of new cases increased slightly from last week, with 576 cases confirmed by molecular testing, for 41,216 to date, and 109 diagnosed using antigen testing, for 4,819. Combined, the new cases work out to an average of about 98 new cases per day, up from about 97 new cases per day last week.
The number of active cases still in their isolation period rose to 792 this week, up from 770 last week, according to Public Health.
The COVID-19 activity rate, which measures new cases per 100,000 population over 14 days, continued its decline, falling to 237.2 per 100,000 as of Thursday. The rate was 251.2 last week and peaked at 549.3 on Sept. 9. However, any rate higher than 200 is considered high by health officials.
The rate of new hospital admissions dipped this week, falling to 6.8 per 100,000 residents over seven days, down from 8.8 last week, according to Public Health data.
As of Tuesday, 88 percent of Clark County’s hospital beds and 84.8 percent of its ICU beds were occupied. Hospitals reported that 56 beds — accounting for 10 percent of total beds and 18.2 percent of ICU beds — were occupied by people with COVID-19.
The Washington Department of Health reported that as of Monday, 66.3 percent of Clark County residents age 12 or older and 56.4 percent of all county residents were fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The state reported that 72.6 percent of the 12-and-older group and 61.8 percent of all county residents had at least one dose.
