Clark County reported a surge in hospital admissions this week as the omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to spread widely throughout the community.
The rate of new hospital admissions increased significantly this week, rising to 11.8 per 100,000 residents over seven days, up from seven last week, according to Public Health data, an increase of 68.5 percent.
As of Tuesday, 96.8 percent of Clark County’s hospital beds and 98.4 percent of its ICU beds were occupied. Hospitals reported that 95 beds — accounting for 17.8 percent of hospital beds and 25 percent of ICU beds — were occupied by people with or suspected of having COVID-19.
Fifteen new deaths were reported in Clark County this week. The deaths include two men in their 30s, one man in his 50s, three women in their 60s, two men and one woman in their 70s, and two men and four women age 80 or older, according to information released Thursday by Clark County Public Health.
To date, 623 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 COVID-19 activity rate, which measures new cases per 100,000 population over 14 days, increased from 715.1 per 100,000 last week to 1,679.1 as of Thursday. Any rate higher than 200 is considered high by health officials.
Public Health reported a total of 6,121 new cases this week. The number of new cases rose by 87.7 percent over last week’s total, with 4,455 confirmed by molecular testing, for 50,573 to date, and 1,666 using antigen testing, for 7,808. Combined, the new cases work out to an average of about 874 new cases per day, up from about 517 new cases per day last week.
The actual number of new cases is likely even higher due to unreported at-home tests, according to Clark County Public Health officials.
The number of active cases still in their isolation period increased to 6,110 this week, up from 3,294 last week, according to Public Health.
The Washington Department of Health reported that as of Jan. 7, 67.5 percent of Clark County residents age 12 or older were fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
