Hospitals seeing more patients, but capacity remains sufficient for now
CLARK COUNTY — Clark County Public Health says the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen by six, making the total 137. No new deaths were reported on Friday, with the total remaining at eight.
The county also, for the first time, is releasing general data about hospitalizations for COVID-19. Currently 22 people are hospitalized with the infection, 10 of those in intensive care.
As of April 1, the county had seen 1,304 tests return negative for COVID-19.
The county is not currently releasing capacity data for specific hospitals, though the latest data shows 2 percent of emergency room visits and 1.5 percent of hospital admissions in the past week were for symptoms similar to COVID-19. That is in line with last week, when both ER visits and hospital admissions for CLI cases were around 2 percent.
Debra Carnes with PeaceHealth Southwest says they’ve seen overall emergency room visits dip to record lows, though they are seeing an increase in people presenting with symptoms similar to COVID-19, including fever, shortness of breath, coughing, and body aches.
“Planning and preparations have been under way for several weeks to prepare for a potential surge in patients,” wrote Carnes. “Our Emergency Department has erected several tents in front of the Emergency Department and now triages all patients (except those coming by ambulance) outside the Emergency Department. Patient registration is also conducted in the tents, and if or when a large patient surge happens, the additional tents will be used for treatment.”
Clark County Public Health also announced that their next update will come on Monday, shifting away from releasing numbers every day of the week.
Demographic breakdown
People in the 40s remain the most impacted in the county, with people between 60 and 49-years-old accounting for 62 percent of the known cases. All of the deaths so far, however, have been in people over 60.
While 83 women have been confirmed to have COVID-19, compared to 54 men, only two women have died. That is a trend which has held true throughout the country, in which men generally seem to be more susceptible to dying from the infection.
Cases, deaths by age
| Age | Cases | Deaths |
| 19 and younger | 2 | 0 |
| 20-29 years | 12 | 0 |
| 30-39 years | 15 | 0 |
| 40-49 years | 33 | 0 |
| 50-59 years | 27 | 0 |
| 60-69 years | 26 | 1 |
| 70-79 years | 12 | 2 |
| 80 and older | 10 | 5 |
Cases, deaths by gender
| Gender | Cases | Deaths |
| Female | 83 | 2 |
| Male | 54 | 6 |
North County hit hardest
The county has released a map showing which zip codes within Clark County have the most confirmed cases. Battle Ground, and the areas east of I-205 have been hit hardest. The map will be updated each week on Friday.
(NOTE: This map was last updated April 1)
Testing remains limited
According to Carnes, testing remains limited. Currently the hospital is only testing patients with severe symptoms, caregivers who had a known exposure at work, and people in the community that have been identified by the county as exposed, such as a nursing home that has had a resident test positive for COVID-19.
Carnes added that PeaceHealth has the ability to do more testing, but still lacks supplies. She said they are hopeful that situation will soon change.
More coverage:
COVID-19 Information and links
