News / Health / Clark County Health

COVID-19, respiratory ailments ‘slowing down’ in Clark County

By Monika Spykerman, Columbian staff writer

Published: March 13, 2024, 6:08am

FILE - This undated, colorized electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, indicated in yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, indicated in blue/pink, cultured in a laboratory. The National Institutes of Health is opening a handful of studies to start testing possible treatments for long COVID, an anxiously awaited step in U.S. efforts against the mysterious condition. The announcement, Monday, July 31, 2023 comes amid frustration from patients who've struggled for months or years with sometimes disabling health problems. (NIAID-RML via AP, File)

“Respiratory illness in general in Clark County seems to be slowing down,” Clark County Public Health spokesperson Marissa Armstrong said, and that includes COVID-19. (See the data for yourself at clark.wa.gov/public-health/respiratory-illness-data.)

Data for the week of Feb. 25-March 2 shows that COVID-related emergency room visits and hospitalizations were down slightly from the previous reporting period.

However, it’s impossible to determine the actual number of people now infected with COVID-19 in Clark County because most testing, if done at all, is done at home, Armstrong said.

“The shift has been to look at hospitalizations and ER visits. We monitor that for COVID and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus),” Armstrong said.

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FILE - This undated, colorized electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, indicated in yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, indicated in blue/pink, cultured in a laboratory. The National Institutes of Health is opening a handful of studies to start testing possible treatments for long COVID, an anxiously awaited step in U.S. efforts against the mysterious condition. The announcement, Monday, July 31, 2023 comes amid frustration from patients who've struggled for months or years with sometimes disabling health problems.

COVID-19, respiratory ailments ‘slowing down’ in Clark County

“Respiratory illness in general in Clark County seems to be slowing down,” Clark County Public Health spokesperson Marissa Armstrong said, and that includes COVID-19. (See…

This electron microscope image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a cluster of norovirus virions. (charles d.

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Clark County Public Health data shows that flu-related emergency room visits are down slightly from the previous reporting period, although hospitalizations for flu are up slightly. Across the state, hospitalizations from all respiratory viruses are trending down.

If you’re unsure whether you have COVID-19 or the flu, you can get an over-the-counter Lucira COVID-19 & Flu Home Test, approved last year by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Normally, sick folks who tough it out at home wouldn’t be tested, unless they’re hospitalized for complications.

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