Oregon reports 2,331 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 9 new deaths
PORTLAND, Ore. — There are nine new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 5,640, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. OHA reported 2,331 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, bringing the state total to 418,333.
COVID-19 weekly cases increase, hospitalizations and deaths decline
OHA’s COVID-19 Weekly Report released Wednesday showed higher daily cases but declines in COVID-19 related hospitalizations and deaths. OHA reported 6,987 new cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, Dec. 21, through Sunday, Dec. 27. That is a 25% increase over the previous week. That was despite a 7.1% decline in reported test results for the week. There were 136,789 tests for COVID-19 for the week of Dec. 19 through Dec. 25. The percentage of positive tests increased to 7.4%, from 4.8% the previous week. There were 185 new COVID-19 related hospitalizations, compared to 286 last week — a 35% drop. That marked the lowest weekly total since the week of July 19 through July 25. There were 89 reported COVID-19-related deaths, down from 114 reported the previous week. Wednesday’s COVID-19 Weekly Outbreak Report shows 48 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.
State continues march toward million-boosters goal
Oregon continues to move closer to meeting Gov. Kate Brown’s goal, announced Dec. 17, of getting 1 million more people in the state a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of January. As of Wednesday, 833,287 more people in Oregon need to get a booster to reach the goal and make our state safer from the Omicron variant. Since the challenge began, an additional 166,713 Oregonians have received a booster.
COVID-19 Hospitalizations
The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 419, which is 21 more than Tuesday. There are 92 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is five fewer than Tuesday. There are 50 available adult ICU beds out of 649 total (8% availability) and 298 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,112 (7% availability). The total number of patients in hospital beds may fluctuate between report times. The numbers do not reflect admissions per day, nor the length of hospital stay. Staffing limitations are not captured in this data and may further limit bed capacity. Note: Please do not visit an emergency department for COVID-19 testing, unless you require emergency care for your symptoms. Emergency departments in Oregon are under significant strain. You can find a test here. If you have a medical condition that doesn’t require emergency care, contact your provider. An urgent care center may also help you get the care you need and will save emergency departments from added strain.
More information about hospital capacity can be found here.
Vaccinations in Oregon
Tuesday, OHA reported that 18,185 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry Dec. 28. Of that total, 1,273 were initial doses, 1,050 were second doses, and 6,570 were third doses and booster doses. The remaining 9,235 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry Dec. 28. The seven-day running average is now 13,766 doses per day. Oregon has now administered 3,789,744 doses of Pfizer Comirnaty, 161,871 doses of Pfizer Pediatric, 2,493,141 doses of Moderna and 255,390 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines. As of Tuesday, 3,044,783 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 2,763,937 people have completed a COVID-19 vaccine series. Notably, Oregon surpassed 100,000 children vaccinated against COVID-19. To date, 100,627 children between 5 and 11 years old have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. These data are preliminary and subject to change. Updated vaccination data are provided on Oregon’s COVID-19 data dashboards and have been updated Tuesday.
COVID Cases
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Wednesday are in the following counties: Baker (5), Benton (67), Clackamas (141), Clatsop (16), Columbia (10), Coos (36), Crook (24), Curry (3), Deschutes (326), Douglas (47), Gilliam (2), Grant (11), Harney (1), Hood River (15), Jackson (144), Jefferson (37), Josephine (45), Klamath (14), Lake (1), Lane (131), Lincoln (23), Linn (85), Malheur (20), Marion (168), Morrow (2), Multnomah (419), Polk (39), Tillamook (6), Umatilla (90), Union (1), Wallowa (2), Wasco (12), Washington (286) and Yamhill (102).