Clark Public Health reports 17 new COVID cases in last daily update from agencyFree

Clark County Public Health reported 17 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday — and announced the agency would no longer provide daily updates of case numbers.

“Moving forward, we will provide a weekly update” on Wednesday or Thursday, Public Health said on social media. Case updates can still be found on the Washington state Department of Health website, though delays in reporting frequently have left the state’s website with different numbers than Public Health.

Case rates have been dropping in recent weeks as more people are vaccinated. Clark County averaged less than 21 cases per day over the weekend, down from 24.4 new cases per day last week. This time last month the county was averaging just shy of 68 cases per day. In early January the county was seeing an average of 180 cases per day.

On Tuesday, the county reported 17 new COVID-19 cases confirmed by molecular (PCR) testing, for a total of 24,417, and no new probable cases, leaving that total at 1,536. There are 156 active COVID-19 cases — confirmed and probable cases still in their isolation period — in the county, down from 166 on Monday.

One death was reported, a man in his 80s with underlying health conditions, according to Public Health. Clark County’s COVID-19 death toll is at 285. About half of the deaths due to COVID-19 in Clark County — 140 of 285 — have been residents age 80 or older.

Currently, 18 people are hospitalized in Clark County with COVID-19, down from 21 on Monday, with one patient waiting on a test, the same as Monday, according to Public Health.

According to the state Department of Health, 68.8 percent of residents age 16 and older have been vaccinated, accounting for 7,795,522 vaccine doses. With more than 7.5 million tests administered in the state, there have been 450,930 confirmed and probable cases and 5,911 deaths — a death rate of 1.3 percent.