Oregon reports 8,672 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 13 new deaths
PORTLAND, Ore. — There are 13 new COVID-19-related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 5,883, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported at 12:01 a.m. Friday. OHA reported 8,672 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Friday, bringing the state total to 513,391.
Pediatric cases rise
COVID-19 cases continue to rise sharply among children ages 0 to 17 with the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant, according to the latest weekly dashboard report of pediatric COVID-19 case data in Oregon. In the most recent full week’s data, published Friday, hospitalized pediatric case rates are increasing for children ages 0 to 4 and 12 to 17. OHA will continue to monitor trends in pediatric case hospitalizations.
More Oregonians receive COVID-19 booster doses
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 Jan. When the challenge began, 949,749 people had received a booster dose. Since then, 352,492 Oregonians have received a booster. As of Friday, Oregon needs 647,508 people to get a booster to reach the goal and make our state safer from the Omicron variant.
Consider alternatives for non-urgent health issues
With a record number of cases recorded and the spread of the Omicron variant statewide, Oregonians are being asked to ease the burden on health systems and emergency rooms. If you are looking for non-emergency COVID-19 treatment, please call your doctor or an urgent care clinic. Not sure who to call? Start with 211.
COVID-19 Hospitalizations
The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 811, which is 34 more than Thursday. There are 153 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is nine more than Thursday. There are 42 available adult ICU beds out of 666 total (6% availability) and 222 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,122 (5% 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.
Vaccinations in Oregon
Friday, OHA reported that 20,623 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry Jan. 13. Of that total, 1,870 were initial doses, 1,170 were second doses and 8,011 were third doses and booster doses. The remaining 9,498 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry Jan. 13. The seven-day running average is now 16,382 doses per day. Oregon has now administered 3,924,838 doses of Pfizer Comirnaty, 189,543 doses of Pfizer pediatric, 2,587,045 doses of Moderna and 260,849 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines. As of Friday, 3,088,356 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 2,799,040 people have completed a COVID-19 vaccine series. These data are preliminary and subject to change. Updated vaccination data are provided on Oregon’s COVID-19 data dashboards and have been updated Friday.
COVID-19 Cases
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Friday are in the following counties: Baker (36), Benton (196), Clackamas (806), Clatsop (40), Columbia (58), Coos (179), Crook (96), Curry (56), Deschutes (746), Douglas (79), Gilliam (1), Grant (5), Hood River (50), Jackson (424), Jefferson (99), Josephine (150), Klamath (122), Lake (10), Lane (590), Lincoln (116), Linn (246), Malheur (153), Marion (787), Morrow (38), Multnomah (1,660), Polk (202), Sherman (4), Tillamook (29), Umatilla (249), Union (42), Wallowa (3), Wasco (47), Washington (1,184) and Yamhill (169). Oregon’s 5,879th COVID-19-related death is a 91-year-old man from Coos County who tested positive for COVID-19 and died Jan. 12. Date of positive test, location of COVID-19-related death and presence of underlying conditions are being confirmed.
OHA updates recommendations for COVID-19 contact tracing, reduces reporting requirements in K-12 settings
PORTLAND, Ore. – Oregon Health Authority (OHA) will release new COVID-19 contact tracing and notification recommendations for K-12 settings to lessen the overall burden of contact tracing on K-12 schools, while ensuring school staff and health officials continue tracing and reporting high-risk exposures. Under the updated guidelines, to be released in the coming days, Oregon will no longer consider masked contact in K-12 settings, including school buses, to be an exposure, regardless of distancing. The updated guidance will strongly advise students and staff to maintain physical distancing to the greatest extent possible. The new recommendations are based on accumulated evidence that layered mitigation efforts in K-12 schools have worked well to minimize transmission and that the vast majority of transmission has occurred following indoor unmasked contact. The new guidance is expected to take effect Friday. Officials say it’s a “common-sense” change to contact tracing and notification that will allow schools to focus resources on identifying high-risk, indoor, unmasked exposures most likely to result in transmission. In addition, schools will no longer be required to report negative antigen test results to OHA. Reporting of positive antigen test results will still be required. Schools that employed universal masking in K-12 settings will continue to perform contact tracing for exposures that occur during unmasked lunchroom encounters, as well as unmasked extracurricular encounters. Oregon Department of Education strongly recommends all schools immediately develop stable lunch cohorts – table groups, lunch bunches and other group situations – where this is not already the practice. If a case occurs within a lunch cohort, the entire lunch cohort group should be considered exposed. Similarly, when a case occurs in an indoor unmasked extracurricular cohort, the entire cohort may be considered exposed. Stable cohorts significantly reduce the burden of contact tracing. During this period of very high COVID-19 transmission in Oregon, school staff will continue to identify and report new cases among students and staff, which will result in more exposures. Exposed, fully vaccinated children and adults who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccination series are not subject to quarantine and may continue to attend school. Individuals exposed to COVID-19 at school remain eligible for test to stay and can continue to attend school during their modified quarantine period. In addition, support for members of school communities who test positive for COVID-19 can be accessed through the COVID-19 Case Support Hotline, 866-917-8881, or Positive COVID Test website. OHA is also identifying resources to add a school-specific support team to the hotline.