The Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released Wednesday, shows decreases in daily cases, hospitalizations and deaths. OHA reported 12,997 new cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, Sept. 6 through Sunday, Sept. 12. That represents an 11% decrease from the previous week. Since the summer surge began in early July, 79% of cases have been sporadic, without known sources. There were 592 new COVID-19 hospitalizations, down from 1,028 last week. That marks the first drop in nine consecutive weeks of increases. While the number of new hospitalizations has decreased, this hospitalization number does not account for people who remain hospitalized from previous weeks. Over the past week, there was a slight decrease in the number of hospitalized COVID-19 positive patients as reported through Oregon’s Hospital Capacity Web System (HOSCAP), but the number of hospitalized patients is still high. There were 120 reported COVID-19 related deaths, down from 171 reported the previous week. It was the first decrease in the weekly death toll after six weeks of increases. There were 149,123 tests for COVID-19 for the week of Sept. 5 through Sept. 11. The percentage of positive tests increased to 12%. Wednesday’s COVID-19 Weekly Outbreak Report shows 182 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.
