Clark County reported another drop in its COVID-19 activity rate this week as the omicron surge nears its end.
The COVID-19 activity rate, which measures new cases per 100,000 population over 14 days, decreased from 527.4 per 100,000 last week to 267.4 as of Thursday. Any rate above 200 is considered high by health officials.
In late September, at the peak of the delta wave, the disease activity rate reached 549.3 per 100,000 population. In late January, at the peak of the omicron wave, the disease activity rate hit a staggering 2,549.1 per 100,000.
This week is the first time since late December — when the omicron wave began — that the disease activity rate has been lower then 500 per 100,000.
Hospitalizations also decreased this week, but hospital occupancy remains high.
New hospitalizations this week fell from 18.4 per 100,000 residents over seven days to 9.6 per 100,000 over seven days, according to Public Health.
As of Tuesday, 97.5 percent of Clark County’s hospital beds and 96.2 percent of its ICU beds were occupied. Hospitals reported that 69 beds — accounting for 13.2 percent of hospital beds and 11.3 percent of ICU beds — were occupied by people with or suspected of having COVID-19.
Fourteen new deaths were reported in Clark County this week. The deaths include one woman in her 50s, two men and three women in their 60s, two men and three women in their 70s and three men age 80 or older.
The new deaths push the total number of people who have died from COVID-19 in Clark County to 754. Deaths are added to the county’s total typically 10 to 12 days after they occur.
Public Health reported 866 confirmed COVID-19 cases, for 84,482 to date. Public Health subtracted 41 probable cases from its totals, bringing the total number of probable cases to 14,200.
The total number of probable cases were lowered by 41 this week due to data cleanup efforts. In those efforts, individuals who had tested positive with an antigen test and then later tested positive with a PCR test are removed from the probable total and added to the confirmed total.
Combined, the new cases work out to an average of about 124 new cases per day, up from about 86 new cases per day last week. The actual number of new cases is likely higher due to unreported at-home tests, according to Clark County Public Health officials.
The Washington State Department of Health reported that as of Feb. 25, 64.4 percent of Clark County residents age 5 or older were fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
