Oregon reports 355 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 35 new deaths
PORTLAND, Ore. — There are 35 new COVID-19-related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 6,933, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. OHA reported 355 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, bringing the state total to 700,660.
COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations record sharp declines
The COVID-19 Weekly Data Report, released Wednesday, showed declines in weekly cases and COVID-19-related hospitalizations, but higher deaths. OHA reported 2,185 new cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, March 7, through Sunday, March 13 – a 43% decline from the previous week, and a 96% drop from the COVID-19 peak case level recorded during the week of Jan. 17 through Jan 23. There were 225 COVID-19-related hospitalizations, a 21% decrease over the previous week. There were 142 COVID-19-related deaths, a 16% increase over last week. Reported COVID-19 test results dropped 17% compared to the previous week. There were 95,348 tests administered. Test positivity dropped to 3.3%. Wednesday’s COVID-19 Weekly Outbreak Report shows 143 total active outbreaks in care facilities, senior living communities and congregate living settings, with three or more confirmed COVID-19 cases or one or more COVID-19-related deaths.
COVID-19 Hospitalizations
The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 242, which is 18 more than Tuesday. There are 36 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is two more than Tuesday. There are 101 available adult ICU beds out of 672 total (15% availability) and 380 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,296 (9% 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
Wednesday, OHA reported that 2,926 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry March 15. Of that total, 281 were initial doses, 363 were second doses and 810 were third doses and booster doses. The remaining 1,346 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry March 15. The seven-day running average is now 2,377 doses per day. Oregon has now administered 4,174,139 doses of Pfizer Comirnaty, 241,716 doses of Pfizer pediatric, 2,730,507 doses of Moderna and 269,631 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines. As of Wednesday, 3,169,224 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 2,877,151 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 Wednesday.
COVID-19 Cases
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Wednesday are in the following counties: Benton (7), Clackamas (14), Clatsop (6), Columbia (8), Coos (5), Crook (1), Curry (3), Deschutes (24), Douglas (16), Grant (3), Hood River (6), Jackson (19), Jefferson (1), Josephine (11), Klamath (9), Lake (1), Lane (29), Lincoln (5), Linn (16), Malheur (3), Marion (33), Morrow (1), Multnomah (74), Polk (4), Tillamook (2), Umatilla (2), Wasco (3), Washington (43), and Yamhill (6).