Oregon reported 1,225 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, part of an upward trend in cases that began the week after Christmas.
The continuous average of new cases over seven days was 898 on December 30. But it increased slightly – to an average of 1,032 on Sunday – raising questions about whether holiday trips and internal celebrations are to blame for the increase in numbers.
State officials have not officially declared an ongoing “post-holiday increase”, but say that coronavirus transmission “has decreased dramatically” between late November and mid-December, before starting an upward trajectory. At the current rate, new daily identified cases may grow to around 1,780 at the end of this month.
In Oregon, in the past two weeks, new daily cases have increased by 24% and deaths by 14%.
Nationally, experts say it is clear that a post-holiday increase has increased new cases by 34% and deaths by 43% in the past two weeks.
Here are other COVID-19 statistics released on Sunday:
Vaccinations: The Oregon Health Authority announced on Sunday that just over 97,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been administered since December 16. This means that the state is probably less than a day away from reaching 100,000 inoculations, a mark that the health authority previously expected. would have performed by December 31.
The state has adjusted its vaccination plan in recent days to speed up the pace of vaccinations – and based on daily injection numbers updated on Sunday for the previous days, the state appears to be vaccinating more people.
The state now says vaccinations reached a record high on Friday, with 9,985 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines administered to people in Phase 1a. This includes about 400,000 people who will each need two doses of vaccines for full effectiveness. Those in Phase 1a are mostly health workers, first responders, prison and prison staff, and residents of congregated care facilities, such as nursing homes.
Where new cases are by county: Baker (5), Benton (15), Clackamas (86), Clatsop (6), Columbia (17), Coos (11), Curry (1), Deschutes (51), Douglas (13), Hood River (10) , Jackson (39), Jefferson (11), Josephine (18), Klamath (43), Lane (89), Lincoln (4), Linn (27), Malheur (1), Marion (233), Morrow (4) , Multnomah (229), Polk (45), Tillamook (1), Umatilla (34), Union (6), Wallowa (4), Wasco (10), Washington (180), Yamhill (32).
New deaths: The state on Sunday reported two new deaths from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 1,605 since the pandemic began.
A 96-year-old woman in Lane County with an underlying condition tested positive on December 29 and died Thursday at the PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center in Riverbend.
A 69-year-old man from Multnomah County with underlying diseases tested positive on November 17 and died on Saturday. Authorities are still checking the location of his death.
Prevalence of infections: The state reported 1,137 positive test results from 14,238 test reports performed. This is an 8% positivity rate.
Hospitalizations: The state registered 403 hospitalized patients, 18 fewer than the day before. The number of patients in intensive care units increased by three to 84.
Since it started: Officials report 125,683 confirmed or suspected cases, 1,605 deaths and 2,826,905 test lab reports.
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– Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee