PORTLAND, Oregon. (KTVZ) – There are three new COVID-19-related deaths in Oregon, two of them in Deschutes County, increasing the state’s death toll to 2,319, the Oregon Health Authority said on Friday.
The two recently reported deaths from Deschutes County COVID-19 bring the total to 68.
The OHA also reported 402 new confirmed and presumed cases of COVID-19 at 0:01 AM on Friday, bringing the state total to 159,037.
Vaccinations in Oregon
The OHA also reported that 34,613 new doses of COVID-19 vaccines were added on Friday to the state’s immunization registry. Of that total, 23,075 doses were administered on Thursday and 11,538 on previous days, but entered the vaccine register on Thursday.
Cumulative daily totals can take several days to complete because providers have 72 hours to report administered doses and technical challenges have caused many providers to delay reporting. OHA has provided technical support to vaccination sites to improve the opportunity for their data entry into the state’s ALERT Immunization Information System (IIS).
Oregon has administered a cumulative total of 1,269,595 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines. To date, 1,567,515 doses of the vaccine have been delivered to locations across Oregon.
These data are preliminary and are subject to change. OHA panels provide regularly updated vaccination data, and the Oregon panel was updated on Friday.
The St. Charles Health System reported 32,272 COVID-19 vaccinations given on Friday.
COVID-19 Hospitalizations
The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 across Oregon is 123, two more than on Thursday. There are 23 patients with COVID-19 in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, one less than on Thursday.
The total number of patients in hospital beds may fluctuate between reporting times. The figures do not reflect hospitalizations per day, nor the length of stay. Personnel limitations are not captured in this data and can further limit the capacity of beds.
St. Charles Bend reported eight patients with COVID-19 until 4 am Friday morning, two of whom were in the ICU, one on a ventilator.
More information about the hospital’s capacity can be found here.
Cases and deaths
The new confirmed and presumed COVID-19 cases reported on Friday are in the following counties: Baker (3), Benton (18), Clackamas (49), Clatsop (2), Columbia (2), Coos (21), Crook (1), Curry (5), Deschutes (8), Douglas (19), Grant (4), Hood River (1), Jackson (24), Jefferson (2), Josephine (25), Klamath (11), Lake (2), Lane (14), Lincoln (5), Linn (12), Malheur (1), Marion (34), Multnomah (73), Polk (8), Tillamook (5), Umatilla (3), Union (4), Washington (41) and Yamhill (5).
The 2,317th death of COVID-19 in Oregon was a 93-year-old man in Josephine County who tested positive on March 1 and died on March 10 at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center. He had underlying conditions.
The 2318th death of COVID-19 in Oregon was a 70-year-old woman in Deschutes County, who died on February 2 in St. Charles Bend. The death certificate listed the disease COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 as the cause of death or a significant condition that contributes to death. She had underlying conditions.
The 2,319th death of COVID-19 in Oregon was a 63-year-old man in Deschutes County, whose test was positive on January 24 and died on February 12 in St. Charles Bend. He had underlying conditions.
New model COVID-19 launched
The Oregon Health Authority released its latest COVID-19 forecast on Friday, which estimated that virus transmission increased in December, but has declined in recent weeks.
The model also provided an update on the effective reproduction rate, which calculates the expected number of secondary cases that a single case generates. The effective reproduction rate for the beginning of February until February 24 was 0.83.
At this level of transmission, the projected average of new daily cases would be 170 between March 17 and March 30, and daily hospitalizations would increase by six.
If, due to the presence of new variants or the lack of adherence to protection measures, transmission increases by 30%, the estimated reproduction rate would be 1.1. At that rate, the estimated daily cases would rise to 265 and daily hospitalizations would increase by 10.
The report also indicates that public support for increased restrictions is waning and that Oregon residents are resuming activities that were suspended at the start of the pandemic.
As access to the vaccine gradually expands across the state, projections about the spread of the virus emphasize the importance of continuing to practice preventive measures that can slow the spread of the disease. It is important that all Oregon residents continue to:
- Keep physical distance.
- Use a face mask or mask.
- Avoid encounters with non-family members
- Practice good hand hygiene.
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines
To learn more about the status of the COVID-19 vaccine in Oregon, visit the OHA website, which contains an analysis of distribution and other useful information.