Oregon to lift mask requirements for indoor public spaces, schools March 19
PORTLAND, Ore. – Oregon will lift mask requirements for indoor public places and Oregon’s schools on March 19, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) announced Thursday, Feb. 24, as hospitalizations drop and are projected to reach levels below those at the start of the Omicron surge. Earlier this month, OHA announced that the general indoor mask requirement would be lifted by March 31, with the option of lifting it sooner if conditions improved enough. Originally, OHA announced that the K-12 indoor mask rule would lift on March 31. Feedback from school districts around the state indicated that preparations for the transition could be completed earlier. By that date, it was expected, 400 or fewer people per day in Oregon would be hospitalized with the virus, a level the state experienced prior to the arrival of the Omicron variant. A recent modeling report by Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) predicted the state would reach that total around March 20. Daily COVID-19 hospitalizations have declined 48% since peaking in late January. Over the past two weeks, hospitalizations have fallen by an average of more than 30 a day. Yesterday, there were 579 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state. Reported COVID-19 infections also have dropped precipitously in recent weeks. Over the past month, new infections have declined by more than 80%. The seven-day moving average for new cases is 84% lower than at the peak of the Omicron surge. “We are able to take this important step, earlier than anticipated, because of the collective diligence and the shared sacrifice that people in Oregon have demonstrated in getting vaccinated, wearing masks and limiting their gatherings,” said Dean Sidelinger, M.D. MSEd, health officer and state epidemiologist. “Based on the feedback from local leaders and communities, OHA and ODE are partnering to develop practical updates to safety protocols for quarantine, contact tracing, and testing that meet the current conditions of the pandemic,” said Colt Gill, director of the Oregon Department of Education and deputy superintendent of public instruction. “These guidelines will continue to support our North Star goal of providing in-person learning for every student, all day, every school day and will focus on specific supports for students, staff, and families that may be at more risk from COVID-19 than others in the school population.” The March 19 date continues to give local communities time to prepare for the transition, and it allows district and school leaders to take necessary actions to ensure students can safely remain in their classrooms. State officials highly recommend that people in high-risk groups continue to wear masks in indoor public settings even after the restrictions are lifted. They include people who are at higher risk because they are unvaccinated; immunocompromised; have underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of complications; are 65 or older; or who live with someone in one of those categories. State officials also continue to strongly recommend universal masking in K-12 settings where children are required to attend. Those settings bring together vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, as well as individuals who are at higher risk for severe COVID-19 illness.
Oregon reports 856 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 59 new deaths
PORTLAND, Ore. — There are 59 new COVID-19-related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 6,578, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. OHA reported 856 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Thursday, bringing the state total to 691,337.
OHA updates mask requirements for indoor public places and schools
Mask requirements for indoor public places and Oregon’s schools will lift on March 19, OHA announced today, as hospitalizations drop and are projected to reach levels below those at the start of the Omicron surge. Earlier this month, OHA announced that the general indoor mask requirement would be lifted by March 31, with the option of lifting it sooner if conditions improved enough. Originally, OHA announced that the K-12 indoor mask rule would lift on March 31. Feedback from school districts around the state indicated that preparations for the transition could be completed earlier. A video statement from Dr. Dean Sidelinger, M.D. MSEd, health officer and state epidemiologist, can be found here. A video statement from Colt Gill, director of the Oregon Department of Education, is available here.
COVID-19 weekly cases, hospitalizations, deaths decline
OHA’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released Thursday, shows declines in weekly cases, COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths. OHA reported 9,332 new cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, Feb.14 through Sunday, Feb. 20 — a 45% decline from the previous week, and an 84% drop from the peak week of Jan. 17 through Jan. 23. There were 639 COVID-19-related hospitalizations, a 20% decrease over the previous week. COVID-19-related deaths declined from 129 to 111. Reported COVID-19 test results dropped 21%. There were 130,116 tests administered. Test positivity dropped to 9.6% from 13.7% the previous week. Thursday’s COVID-19 Weekly Outbreak Report shows 314 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.
OHA releases new COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough report
OHA’s most recent update on COVID-19 breakthrough cases, released Thursday, reported 9,873 cases of COVID-19 during the week of Feb. 13 to Feb. 19. Of those cases, 5,787, or 58.6%, were unvaccinated people and 4,078, or 41.3%, were vaccine breakthrough cases. Among the breakthrough cases, 1,772, or 42.2%, were fully vaccinated and boosted. The median age of the breakthrough cases during that period was 51. Fifty-two breakthrough cases involved residents of care facilities, senior living communities or other congregate care settings. There were 212 cases in people ages 12 to 17. To date, there have been 187,020 COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases in Oregon. Of those cases, 41,969, or 22.4%, were fully vaccinated. The median age of all cases is 4. The report shows that the rate of COVID-19 in unvaccinated people is two-and-a-half times the rate as in vaccinated people, and four times higher than in people who are fully vaccinated and boosted. To date, 2.4% of all vaccine breakthrough cases have been hospitalized and 0.5% have died. The median age of vaccinated people who died is 80. Vaccination remains the most effective tool to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Oregonians are encouraged to get vaccinated and, if eligible, to get a booster shot.
Readers invited to take survey on COVID-19 data reports
OHA is requesting feedback from readers of the COVID-19 weekly reports. This will help make our reporting more useful and informative for our readers. The survey should take less than five minutes to complete. We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback.
COVID-19 Hospitalizations
The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 528, which is 51 fewer than Wednesday. There are 105 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is five fewer than Wednesday. There are 94 available adult ICU beds out of 674 total (14% availability) and 350 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,284 (8% 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.
Vaccinations in Oregon
Thursday, OHA reported that 5,482 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry Feb. 23. Of that total, 504 were initial doses, 586 were second doses and 1,496 were third doses and booster doses. The remaining 2,755 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry Feb. 23. The seven-day running average is now 4,502 doses per day. Oregon has now administered 4,136,268 doses of Pfizer Comirnaty, 232,119 doses of Pfizer pediatric, 2,706,485 doses of Moderna and 268,261 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines. As of Thursday, 3,155,407 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 2,860,508 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 Thursday.
COVID-19 Cases
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Thursday are in the following counties: Baker (7), Benton (28), Clackamas (80), Clatsop (13), Columbia (8), Coos (15), Crook (7), Curry (11), Deschutes (37), Douglas (27), Harney (9), Hood River (3), Jackson (58), Jefferson (10), Josephine (38), Klamath (7), Lake (1), Lane (55), Lincoln (18), Linn (32), Malheur (18), Marion (63), Multnomah (131), Polk (26), Sherman (1), Tillamook (2), Umatilla (11), Union (4), Wallowa (1), Wasco (6), Washington (116) and Yamhill (13).