Clark County COVID-19 cases surge by 26.5 percent over last weekFree

Clark County’s rate of COVID-19 infections continued to surge this week, up by about 26.5 percent over last week’s numbers, with 382 new cases and one new death, according to Clark County Public Health.

The death was a man in his 60s with an underlying condition, according to Public Health data. There have been 293 deaths recorded since the pandemic began. Deaths are added to the county’s total 10 to 12 days after they occur. No deaths were reported last week.

The increase comes as the highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19 became the dominant variant in Washington, accounting for 75.9 percent of new cases between June 27 and July 10, according to the Washington Department of Health. One week previously, delta accounted for 41.6 percent of all new cases in Washington. The week of May 16-29, it was 9.5 percent.

The increasing number of cases was reflected in statistics that track case rates, with the number of new cases per 100,000 population over two weeks rising to 74.5 this week in Clark County, up from 50.1 last week, an increase of 48.7 percent, according to Public Health data.

Hospital admissions also rose, with 4.6 new hospital admissions for COVID-19 per 100,000 over seven days this week, up from 2.8 last week, a 64.2 percent increase, according to Public Health data. As of Thursday, 8.1 percent of all hospital beds in Clark County were occupied by people with or suspected of having COVID-19 and 81.8 percent of available ICU beds were occupied by patients of all types.

The new cases include 320 that have been confirmed with molecular PCR testing, for a total of 25,251 cases to date, and 62 probable cases diagnosed with antigen testing, for a total of 1,688 to date, according to Public Health data. Combined, the 382 cases works out to an average of about 55 new cases a day over the past week, up from an average of 43 last week and about 13 during the first week of July.

The number of active cases also rose, with 431 positive and probable cases still in their isolation period, up 43.19 percent from last week’s 301 active cases, according to Public Health data.

As of July 26, 475,300 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in Clark County, with 259,725 residents having at least one dose — 62.7 percent of residents age 16 or older — and 235,916 residents fully vaccinated.