Clark County Public Health confirms 48 COVID-19 cases in weekend totalFree

Clark County Public Health confirmed 48 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday. Public health does not report cases over the weekend so the number represents a three-day total.

No new deaths have been reported since last week.

Clark County has seen a total of 1,680 novel coronavirus cases since the first cases were reported in March, along with 37 deaths.

Today’s case count is the smallest Monday total Clark County has seen since June 22, when 18 cases were reported. In July, Monday totals have been closer to triple digits: July 6 saw 107 cases, the first time a more than a hundred cases were reported at a time and the day the county cracked 1,000 cases; July 13 saw 106; and July 20 had 92 cases. The county has averaged 31 confirmed new cases per day in July.

Currently, there are 19 people hospitalized for COVID-19 at Clark County hospitals, along with three people in the hospital waiting on test results. Some 72 percent of PeaceHealth Southwest and Legacy Salmon Creek medical centers’ beds are occupied, 3.5 percent by COVID-19 patients.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said last week he is changing rules for restaurants and bars in Washington in the face of increasing cases of COVID-19, especially among young people. For restaurants, indoor dining will be limited to members of the same household and alcohol service must end at 10 p.m. Bars, taverns, breweries, wineries and distilleries must close all indoor service, regardless of whether food is served, Inslee said. Those rules go into effect Thursday.

Clark County is currently in Phase 2 of the Safe Start Washington plan. The county applied for Phase 3 on June 26. All applications to move phases are on hold until at least Tuesday.