The county has not seen a death blamed on the outbreak since late June
Clark County topped the 1,000 mark for COVID-19 cases over the holiday weekend, adding 110 positive tests through Sunday to reach 1,011 since the outbreak began.
The new cases were spread over Thursday through Sunday, with an average of 27 new cases per day.
The number of people with confirmed cases in Clark County hospitals also doubled since last Thursday, from nine to 18, with 3.7 percent of licensed hospital beds occupied by a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19. The total percentage of hospital beds that are full also climbed from 60 to 71 percent.
The total number of deaths blamed on the virus remained at 29.
According to Clark County Public Health, there have been no new cases connected to the Orchards Tap Bar and Grill, which closed on June 29 after four employees and 14 customers tested positive. The most recent positive test connected to the business was on July 2.
Clark County remains in Phase 2 after Gov. Jay Inslee put a two week pause on any further reopenings late last week. The most recent increase in cases puts the county beyond the metric of 25 per 100,000 people in the past 14 days. Since that tally is delayed by six days, the rate is expected to increase further this week.
Statewide, Washington has seen an average of 83 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days, with counties in the central and easter part of the state seeing the steepest increase.
Yakima County has been especially hard hit, with more than 570 cases per 100,000 residents. Despite that steep increase, the state says the hard-hit county still has sufficient hospital capacity.
The statewide trend seems to show a stabilization in the number of new cases over the past 10 days, while deaths have continued to decline and hospitalizations have seen a slight increase.
The recent cases have increasingly been in younger populations. Over the weekend, Clark County topped 100 cases in people under 19 years of age for the first time. The bulk of new cases in the past month have been in people under the age of 40.
Clark County Public Health noted on its Facebook page that they are working to further break down the cases by age for those under 19.
Starting Tuesday, businesses in Clark County are being asked to refuse service to anyone not wearing a mask, though businesses must make accommodations for anyone who can’t wear a face covering due to medical reasons.
Public Health said they have no indication that Clark County is in danger of being moved back to Phase 1 of reopening, despite the recent increase in numbers.
