Covid-19 Hospitalizations at Central Washington Hospital Set Record for 2nd Straight Day

COVID-19 hospitalizations in Wenatchee are at a new pandemic high for the second day in a row.

The number at Central Washington Hospital has swelled by nine within a single day and now sits at 58 as of Thursday morning.

The new COVID-19 admissions are close to a record for any 24-hour period at the hospital. Eleven of the 58 hospitalizations are of fully vaccinated people.

The increase comes as positive tests for the virus are also on  the rise.

Numbers released Tuesday show a 20 percent positivity rate, compared to 16.5 percent a day earlier and levels that averaged 4-5 percent as recently as early July.

Confluence Health, which runs Central Washington Hospital, also reports an exponential increase in people getting tested over the last week.

The number of new cases reported by the Chelan Douglas Health District has been tapering off lately, and the district's latest release showed a slight decline in new cases.

Chelan County has the highest percentage of its population fully vaccinated for COVID-19 within the four-county region of Chelan, Douglas, Grant and Okanogan counties.

According to the Washington Department of Health, Chelan County has 55.4 percent of its population fully vaccinated, compared to 50.7 percent for Okanogan County, 48.8 percent in Douglas County and 41.9 percent in Grant County.