<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

COVID-19 hospitalizations slow statewide, increase in Cowlitz

By Katie Fairbanks, The Daily News
Published: January 26, 2022, 7:47am

LONGVIEW — The statewide increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations appears to be slowing as the Puget Sound area sees cases starting to decline. However, hospital officials Tuesday said cases and hospitalizations are rising in other parts of the state.

“We are glad the overall rate of increase in COVID cases and hospitalizations is beginning to slow,” said Taya Briley, executive vice president of the Washington State Hospital Association. “However, we are bracing ourselves for the second chapter of the omicron surge as it hits eastern Washington and Idaho.”

Statewide, an average of 2,286 patients were hospitalized for COVID-19 last week, up about 6% from the week before, Briley said. Although still an increase, the rise is smaller than previous weeks, she said.

Cowlitz County has not seen a dramatic rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations this year. The county recorded about 22 new hospitalizations per 100,000 people from Jan. 5 to Jan. 11, the most recent complete week. Washington recorded 24 hospitalizations per 100,000 the same week.

PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center had 34 COVID-19 patients as of Tuesday morning, up from 27 on Friday.

The number of COVID-19 patients on ventilators in Washington increased about 14% from an average of 136 to 155, Briley said. The trends are following a similar pattern in past surges of rising cases followed by increases in hospitalizations, patients on ventilators and deaths, she said.

Incomplete death counts on the state Department of Health’s COVID-19 data dashboard show an increase in late December and early January. The state considers the most recent 32 days to be incomplete as deaths take longer to report and confirm.

Cases and hospitalizations are beginning to decrease or flatten in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties first hit by the omicron-driven surge, but rates remain high, Briley said.

Hospitalizations are increasing in other regions, including central, eastern and southwest Washington, Briley said. Clark County has seen about a 15% increase, and hospitalizations roughly doubled in Spokane County over the past two weeks from 80 to 160, she said.

The strain on Idaho hospitals will affect Washington facilities, hospital officials said. Public health officials activated crisis standards of care for much of southern Idaho on Monday, the Associated Press reported.

In eastern Washington, a majority of COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated, said Jeannie Eylar, chief nursing officer at Pullman Regional Medical Center. While vaccinated staff infected recently have “weathered it well,” the resulting staffing shortage has strained the 25-bed hospital, Eylar said.

Cowlitz County cases appear to be continuing to rise, with 1,668 new cases per 100,000 people from Dec. 29 to Jan. 11, the highest rate of the pandemic.

The county Monday recorded 155 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 18,821. Cowlitz County recorded 302 COVID-19 deaths. The state Department of Health is no longer updating its data dashboard on Tuesdays and Thursdays as a “step towards achieving long-term sustainability … to inform Washingtonians with accurate and reliable COVID-19 data.”

Wahkiakum County reported four new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, bringing the total to 294, with 24 potentially active. The county health department considers cases with a positive test result in the last 21 days to be potentially active.

Loading...