A change in how Clark County Public Health tracks new cases boosted new case counts on Wednesday, as longer-term measures shows a continuing decline in disease activity.
Public Health reported one fatality on Wednesday, a woman age 80 or older with underlying medical conditions. There have been 272 deaths from COVID-19 reported to date. Deaths are added to the county’s total 10-12 days after they occur.
Clark County’s rate of new cases, which measures new cases per 100,000 over 14 days, continued to decline this week, down to 228 per 100,000, compared with 266.6 per 100,000 last week and 276.6 per 100,000 the week before, according to Public Health data.
The rate of new hospital admissions per 100,000 over seven days also fell, down to 6.6 per 100,000 this week, compared with 7.8 per 100,000 last week and 6.4 per 100,000 the week before, according to Public Health data.
Data showing the improving trend was complicated Wednesday by a change in how Public Health calculates new cases. Public Health had used a case interviewing tool to calculate new case totals, but transitioned to using data drawn from the Washington Disease Reporting System.
Due to the change, Public Health reported 179 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. Under previous procedures, the county would have reported only 75 new cases on Wednesday. A Public Health statement said the difference was partly due to cases being reported more quickly through the new system and partly due to past cases that had been investigated but not imported into the interviewing tool and therefore not included in previous case totals.
Of those new cases, 177 were confirmed using molecular (PCR) testing, for a total of 23,593 to date, while two probable cases were diagnosed with antigen testing, for a total of 1,387 to date, according to Public Health data.
The number of active cases, which tracks both confirmed and probable cases still in their isolation period, rose to 457 on Wednesday from 433 on Tuesday, according to Public Health data.
Hospitalization data was unchanged from Tuesday’s numbers, with 44 people hospitalized with COVID-19, six people hospitalized awaiting test results, an ICU occupancy rate of 96.9 percent and a total occupancy by confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients of 8.7 percent.
Data for Clark County and the state show that COVID-19 vaccines are extremely effective at preventing COVID-19 infections as well as hospitalizations and deaths. According to county data from May 25, only about 0.07 percent of fully vaccinated Clark County residents have contracted COVID-19. That data shows 124 breakthrough cases out of 178,500 fully vaccinated people. Out of those 124 breakthrough cases, 67 percent, or 83 cases, were symptomatic. Ten percent, or 12 cases, were hospitalized, and two people died.
Anyone age 16 or older is eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and anyone age 12 or older is eligible to be vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine, though a parent or legal guardian must accompany minors ages 12 to 15. Underage teens are advised to check with vaccination sites about what sort of parental consent might be needed.
Vaccinations are available without an appointment at a number of sites in Clark County, including the Tower Mall vaccination site, 5403 E. Mill Plain Blvd. in Vancouver. The Tower Mall site will close at the end of June.
