Weekly COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise, deaths fall, July 29

The Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released Wednesday, shows an increase in daily cases and hospitalizations and a decline in COVID-19 related deaths. OHA reported 3,098 new daily cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, July 19, through Sunday, July 25. That represents a 53% rise over the previous week.  New COVID-19 related hospitalizations rose to 146, up from 123 the previous week. There were 12 reported COVID-19 related deaths, down from 29 reported the previous week. There were 54,566 tests for COVID-19 for the week of July 18 through July 24. Reported cases increased despite a 12% decrease in testing, while test positivity rose from 4.2% to 5.0%. As of July 27, 2,477,608 Oregonians — 58.1% of the state’s total population — had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Case rates have generally been higher in counties with lower COVID-19 vaccination rates. During the week of July 18–25, the 10 counties with case rates in excess of 100 per 100,000 had population vaccination rates below 50%. Wednesday’s COVID-19 Weekly Outbreak Report shows 28 active COVID-19 outbreaks in senior living communities and congregate living settings, with three or more confirmed cases and one or more COVID-19 related deaths.