The Oregon Health Authority reported on Thursday 392 cases of coronavirus and 32 more deaths, marking the second consecutive day with a surprisingly high mortality count.
State officials did not immediately disclose the details of the deaths. But more than half of the 27 deaths announced on Wednesday occurred in mid-February or earlier, indicating that Oregon is not seeing a sudden resurgence in daily deaths.
February was the fourth highest number of deaths in any month of the pandemic, but the fatality count is significantly lower than the record for November, January and December of almost 600.
Oregon cases, however, are on average just over 300 a day. Cases have not been so low since the beginning of October – and the daily average is now lower than the peak of summer.
Encouraged by progress, Governor Kate Brown announced on Thursday that she would not immediately reinstate indoor dining bans next week for backward counties. Instead, it will offer a two-week extension to improve case rates before the bans come into effect.
Where new cases are by county: Baker (3), Benton (8), Clackamas (24), Clatsop (1), Columbia (3), Coos (21), Crook (4), Curry (2), Deschutes (26), Douglas (23), Grant (2), Hood River (1), Jackson (37), Jefferson (10), Josephine (23), Klamath (7), Lake (4), Lane (18), Lincoln (1), Linn (8) , Malheur (1), Marion (38), Morrow (1), Multnomah (52), Polk (6), Tillamook (1), Umatilla (18), Union (8), Wallowa (1), Washington (34) and Yamhill (6).
Who died: State officials did not immediately release details of the 32 deaths linked to COVID-19.
The prevalence of infections: The state reported 847 new positive tests out of 10,629 tests performed, which is equivalent to an 8% positivity rate.
Who was infected: New confirmed or presumed infections grew between the following age groups: 0-9 (14); 10-19 (41); 20-29 (73); 30-39 (66); 40-49 (65); 50-59 (49); 60-69 (35); 70-79 (24); 80 and older (13).
Who is in the hospital: The state reported 140 people with confirmed coronavirus infections at the hospital, the same number on Wednesday. Of these, 29 patients with coronavirus are in intensive care units, down two from Wednesday.
Vaccines: Oregon reported that 1,043,609 doses of the vaccine were administered, or about 78% of the doses received. Oregon reported 24,014 new doses administered, which includes 16,376 on Wednesday and the remainder of previous days.
Since it started: Oregon reported 156,673 confirmed or suspected infections and 2,284 deaths, among the lowest per capita numbers in the country. To date, the state has reported 3,798,067 test lab reports.
– Brad Schmidt; [email protected]; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt