The Oregon Health Authority announced on Wednesday 649 new cases of coronavirus and 10 more deaths, as Governor Kate Brown’s office said it would comply with a judge’s order to start vaccinating inmates in state prisons.
Authorities will not challenge an order from a federal judge demanding that Oregon vaccinate prisoners ahead of the state’s planned March schedule.
Brown’s office said accelerating the vaccination of prisoners will not affect the timetable for teachers and the elderly, who are or will soon become eligible. But it is not immediately clear how this will be possible or, if correct, why the state initially chose not to vaccinate prisoners before.
Wednesday marked the 18th consecutive day with confirmed or suspected coronavirus infections below 1,000.
Cases, hospitalizations and the rate of positive tests remain significantly below December records.
Oregon is approaching the 2,000 death mark and is likely to exceed it this week. At least 42 of the deaths occurred among Oregon residents serving prison terms.
Where the new cases are by municipality: Baker (5), Benton (32), Clackamas (40), Clatsop (5), Columbia (1), Coos (16), Crook (7), Curry (1), Deschutes (20), Douglas (19), Harney (4), Hood River (1), Jackson (41), Jefferson (7), Josephine (22), Klamath (4), Lake (2), Lane (91), Lincoln (8), Linn (21) , Malheur (5), Marion (66), Morrow (1), Multnomah (57), Polk (26), Umatilla (31), Union (7), Wallowa (3), Wasco (4), Washington (62) and Yamhill (40).
Deaths: The state released details on Wednesday of 23 deaths announced on Tuesday and 10 deaths announced on Wednesday.
The 1,959 coronavirus-related death in Oregon was an 87-year-old man from Clackamas County who tested positive on January 22 and died on January 30 at his home.
The 1,960 fatality is a 96-year-old woman from Clackamas County who tested positive on January 21 and died on January 29 at her home.
The 1,961st death is a 95-year-old woman from Clackamas County who tested positive on January 18 and died on January 30 at her home.
The 1962 death is a 61-year-old man from Clackamas County who tested positive on January 1 and died on January 19 at his home.
The 1,963rd death was a 96-year-old man from Clackamas County who tested positive on December 31 and died on January 11 at his home.
The 1964th fatality is an 85-year-old woman from Clackamas County who tested positive on December 28 and died on January 11 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.
The 1965 death is a 90-year-old woman from Hood River County who tested positive on January 21 and died on January 31 at her home.
The 1966 death is an 87-year-old woman from Columbia County who tested positive on December 15 and died on January 8 at the Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center.
The 1,967th death was a 61-year-old woman from Lane County who tested positive on December 10 and died on January 25 at her home.
The 1,968th fatality is a 70-year-old man from Jackson County who tested positive on January 15 and died on January 30 at Providence Medford Medical Center.
The 1,969 death is a 66-year-old man from Jackson County with no underlying medical conditions who tested positive on December 28 and died on January 28 at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center.
The 1,970th fatality is a 64-year-old man from Marion County who died on January 30 at Santiam Hospital. His death certificate listed COVID-19 as a significant cause or condition that contributed to his death.
The 1971 death was a 62-year-old man from Marion County who tested positive on January 21 and died on February 1 at Salem Hospital.
The 1,972nd fatality is a 68-year-old woman from Marion County who tested positive on December 21 and died on January 26 at Salem Hospital.
The 1973 death was a 79-year-old man from Marion County who tested positive on December 7 and died on January 29 at his home.
The 1,974th fatality is a 58-year-old man from Morrow County, who tested positive on January 30 and died on February 1 at Good Shepherd Community Hospital.
The 1975 death is an 83-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive on November 23 and died on January 9 at his home.
The 1976th fatality is a 66-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive on November 13 and died on December 9 at Providence Portland Medical Center.
The 1,977th death was an 87-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive on December 5 and died on December 31 at his home.
The 1,978th fatality is a 73-year-old woman from Multnomah County who tested positive on December 22 and died on January 24 at her home.
The 1,979th death was a 95-year-old woman from Multnomah County who tested positive on January 8 and died on January 31 at her home.
The 1,980th fatality is an 81-year-old woman from Multnomah County who tested positive on January 27 and died on January 30. State officials are confirming where she died.
The 1981 death is a 69-year-old woman from Yamhill County who tested positive on January 21 and died on January 26 at Willamette Valley Medical Center.
The 1,982 death is a 59-year-old man from Baker County who tested positive on February 1 and died on February 1 at St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center.
The 1,983 death is a 99-year-old woman from Clackamas County who tested positive on January 26 and died on January 24 at her home.
The death of 1,984 is a 64-year-old woman from Clackamas County who tested positive on January 24 and died on January 25 at her home.
The 1,985 death is a 71-year-old woman from Deschutes County who tested positive on January 20 and died on January 28 at her home.
The 1986 death is a 94-year-old woman from Jackson County who tested positive on January 4 and died on January 31 at her home.
The death of 1,987 is an 86-year-old man from Marion County who tested positive on January 25 and died on January 31 at his home.
The 1,988th fatality is a 65-year-old man from Umatilla County who tested positive on January 11 and died on January 26 at his home.
The 1,989 death is an 81-year-old woman from Multnomah County who tested positive on November 29 and died on January 2 at her home.
The 1999 death was a 72-year-old man from Umatilla County who tested positive on January 16 and died on January 29 at his home.
The death of a 98-year-old woman from Yamhill County was positive on January 21 and died on January 30. State officials are confirming where she died.
Unless noted above, each person who died had underlying health problems or state officials were working to determine whether the person had underlying health problems.
The prevalence of infections: The state reported 575 new positive tests out of 15,079 tests carried out, which is equivalent to a positivity rate of 3.8%.
Who was infected: New confirmed or presumed infections grew between the following age groups: 0-9 (24); 10-19 (82); 20-29 (144); 30-39 (97); 40-49 (87); 50-59 (78); 60-69 (57); 70-79 (38); 80 and older (18).
Who is in the hospital: The state reported 266 Oregon residents with confirmed coronavirus infections at the hospital on Wednesday, four more than on Tuesday. Of those, 63 patients with coronavirus were in intensive care units, two more than on Tuesday.
Vaccines: Oregon reported that 471,966 doses of vaccine were administered, or about 67% of the doses received. Oregon reported 17,720 new doses administered, including 12,173 on Tuesday and the rest of the previous days.
Since it started: Oregon reported 144,605 confirmed or suspected infections and 1,991 deaths, among the lowest per capita numbers in the country. To date, the state has reported 3,233,826 test lab reports.
– Brad Schmidt; [email protected]; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt