Health officials are investigating a COVID-19 outbreak in a Vancouver, Washington, hospital in which 10 patients and four employees on a single floor tested positive.
Five of the 14 cases in PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center were fully vaccinated, and the patients showing symptoms are unvaccinated, officials said.
COVID-19 cases are nationally rising as the Delta variant of the virus spreads. The PeaceHealth exposure samples are being sent to the Washington Department of Health to test for the Delta variant.
“While COVID-19 activity has decreased in Clark County in recent weeks, the virus is still circulating and we still have a large portion of our community that is unvaccinated,” said Dr. Alan Melnick, Clark County health officer and Public Health director. “The COVID-19 vaccines are very effective at preventing infection, but they’re not perfect.”
Clark County has 24,680 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 161 active cases as of July 15. More than 230,000 residents were fully vaccinated as of July 12.
The hospital is temporarily restricting visitors, officials said. The floor is also closed to new patients.
Infection prevention specialists at PeaceHealth and Clark County Public Health are investigating the outbreak, said Dr. Lawrence Neville, chief medical officer.
“This situation is an unfortunate reminder that while most of our country is fully reopened, this deadly virus remains,” he said.
— April Rubin; arubin@oregonian.com; @AprilMRubin