Weekly COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths rise, July 22

The Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released Wednesday, shows an increase in daily cases, hospitalizations and COVID-19 related deaths. OHA reported 2,026 new daily cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, July 12, through Sunday, July 18. That represents a 54% rise over the previous week and the highest tally in seven weeks. New COVID-19 related hospitalizations rose to 123, up from 104 the previous week. There were 29 reported COVID-19 related deaths, up from 15 reported the previous week. There were 62,098 tests for COVID-19 for the week of July 11 through July 17. The percentage of positive tests was 4.2%, up from 3.4% the previous week. As of July 20, 2,452,035 Oregonians — 57.5% of the state’s total population — had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Case rates have generally been higher in counties with lower COVID-19 vaccination rates. During the week of July 11–17, case rates in 15 counties exceeded the statewide average of 44.9 cases per 100,000 population. All 15 counties had overall population COVID-19 vaccination rates of lower than 55%, and 13 of them had rates lower than 47%. Wednesday’s COVID-19 Weekly Outbreak Report shows 21 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.