Clark County reported 3,621 new COVID-19 cases this week, the highest number of new cases reported in a week since the pandemic began.
The rapid surge – a 118 percent increase in new cases from last week – is a result of the highly contagious omicron variant currently spreading through Clark County.
Eleven new deaths were reported in Clark County this week. The deaths include one man in his 30s, one woman in her 50s, five men in their 60s, three men in their 70s and one man age 80 or older, according to information released Thursday by Clark County Public Health.
To date, 608 people have died from COVID-19 in Clark County. Deaths are added to the county’s total 10 to 12 days after they occur.
The number of new cases rose by 118 percent over last week’s total, with 2,434 confirmed by molecular testing, for 46,118 to date, and 827 using antigen testing, for 6,142. Combined, the new cases work out to an average of about 517 new cases per day, up from about 213 new cases per day last week.
The number of active cases still in their isolation period increased to 3,294 this week, up from 1,601 last week, according to Public Health.
The COVID-19 activity rate, which measures new cases per 100,000 population over 14 days, increased from 437.3 per 100,000 last week to 715.1 as of Thursday. Any rate higher than 200 is considered high by health officials.
The rate of new hospital admissions decreased this week, falling to seven per 100,000 residents over seven days, down from 8.6 last week, according to Public Health data, a drop of about 17 percent.
As of Tuesday, 90.2 percent of Clark County’s hospital beds and 83.1 percent of its ICU beds were occupied. Hospitals reported that 66 beds – accounting for 12.4 percent of hospital beds and 24.6 percent of ICU beds – were occupied by people with or suspected of having COVID-19.
The Washington Department of Health reported that as of Dec. 30, 67.2 percent of Clark County residents age 12 or older were fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
