Clark County Public Health confirmed three more COVID-19 cases Tuesday, all people in their 40s.
Two women are recovering at home, and the third patient, a man, is hospitalized. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Clark County is 16, including four deaths.
Public Health is still investigating whether these three new cases had any known contact with other confirmed cases, and is working to identify close contacts, who will be instructed to stay home for 14 days after their last contact with the sick person, according to a Public Health news release.
More than 2,200 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the state, and at least 110 people have died. Clark County has now confirmed at least one case every day since Friday. Cowlitz County is up to three positive cases.
Close to 15 percent of the state’s cases have been people in their 40s, according to the Department of Health. In that age range, 2 percent of the cases have been fatal.
The virus has been more deadly for older populations — 80 percent of Washington’s deaths have been people 70 and older — but younger populations are seeing more confirmed cases and complications from COVID-19 as testing capacity increases in the U.S.
Nearly 40 percent of hospitalizations in the U.S. have been for people between the ages of 20 and 54, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report from March 18.
On Tuesday, California confirmed the country’s first minor to die from the virus, according to the New York Times.
In a statement, Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said, “COVID-19 does not discriminate by age, race or income level.”
