Clark County’s COVID-19 activity level moved back into the “high” range in the latest data released Tuesday.
Clark County Public Health reported a new rate of 397.95 new cases per 100,000 over 14 days, breaking a three-week downturn that brought levels to as low as 324.87 new cases per 100,000 on Jan. 4.
The change comes as Public Health reported 90 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths Tuesday. The new cases push the county’s total number of cases to 14,966 and work out to an average of about 153 new cases a day since Friday. Disease activity had tapered off in December but surged after the new year.
There were 1,028 active cases still in their isolation period Tuesday, down from 1,076 the day before.
Hospitalizations fell. There were 69 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Clark County on Tuesday, down from 78 on Monday; there were four people hospitalized awaiting test results, down from five the day before.
The uptick in cases puts the county back into the “high” COVID-19 activity range, which begins at 350 new cases per 100,000 people over 14 days and a test positivity rate greater than 10 percent. The most recent test data was not available Tuesday. The rate calculated by Public Health may differ from the rate calculated by the Washington State Department of Health, due to delays in data reporting, according to the Public Health website. Public Health data is the most up to date and will be used by Public Health and Clark County school districts when making decisions about schools.
The county had been in the “moderate” range or 50 to 350 new cases per 100,000 people over 14 days. The “high” range comes with more stringent recommendations from state health officials over school reopening, suggesting that in-person learning be limited initially to kindergarteners through third grade and those with the highest educational needs.
A high activity level also comes with a recommendation from the state that schools cancel or postpone most in-person extra-curricular activities, with some exceptions.
More details are available on Clark County Public Health’s website.
