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SUN STAFF REPORT

After a promising decline in COVID-19 cases, Clark County’s incidence rate in the past two weeks has climbed back up, almost to the  critical category or “red zone” of 25 or more cases per 100,000 population.

The county started the month with an average incidence rate of 13.39 from Feb. 27 to March 1, with 12 new cases during that period. But it has increased almost every day since then.

On Friday, the rate was 22.84,which puts the county in the accelerated or “orange” category, and nine new cases were reported by the Clark County Health Department for that day alone, bringing the total to 2,506 COVID cases in the county since last March, and 178 of those were active cases.

Twenty-two people in Clark County have died of conditions related to the virus and the respiratory disease it causes.

Since that weekend of Feb. 27-March 1, there have been 102 new coronavirus cases reported in Clark County by the Health Department, and 58 of those have been since last weekend.

Clark County Public Director Becky Kissick was asked why the numbers were steadily rising after having fallen so low.

“At this point, it appears to be community spread, with no known clusters identified,” she said. “While we are making steady progress with vaccinations, proper precautions are still essential. I encourage everyone to continue to maintain social distancing, practice good hand hygiene and wear a mask.”