Clark County’s COVID-19 activity rose to the highest level on record this week with 1,602 new cases since Aug. 26 — the most ever reported in a seven-day period.
The county’s COVID-19 activity rate, which was as low as 50.1 cases per 100,000 residents over 14 days in late July, reached 523 per 100,000 as of Thursday, according to Clark County Public Health. The previously highest rate of 473.7 per 100,000 was reached on Jan. 18 during a post-holiday surge.
The skyrocketing infection rate is being fueled by the highly contagious delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The latest data from the Washington Department of Health said sampling indicates that the delta variant accounts for 98.4 percent of the state’s COVID-19 caseload.
The surge has led to new mandates on masking and vaccination as hospitals struggle to accommodate surging caseloads that saw Clark County’s rate of new hospital admissions rising to 13.6 per 100,000 over seven days, up 44.6 percent from one week before.
As of Tuesday, 92.4 percent of Clark County’s ICU beds and 83.1 percent of its hospital beds were occupied, according to Public Health data. It showed that people with or suspected of having COVID-19 accounted for 23.3 percent of all hospital admissions as of Tuesday.
One death was reported in the past week, a man in his 50s with an underlying condition, bringing the total number of deaths from COVID-19 to 306 to date, according to Public Health data.
The new cases reported since Aug. 26 include 1,243 that were confirmed using molecular PCR testing, for a total of 29,725 cases since the pandemic began, and 359 probable cases diagnosed with antigen testing, for a total of 2,730 to date, according to Public Health data.
Combined, those cases represent an average of about 229 new cases a day, far surpassing an average of about 180 new cases a day reported during the height of the post-holiday surge on Jan. 8, according to Public Health data.
There were 1,561 active cases still in their isolation period on Thursday, an increase of 210 from Aug. 26.
Health officials have vaccinations coupled with face covering are the best way to protect yourself and other from infection. As of Saturday, 65.3 percent of eligible Clark County residents had received at least one dose, and 58.5 percent were fully vaccinated.
Vaccines are available at no charge at many local pharmacies and health care providers.
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