Cases, deaths and hospitalizations dropped dramatically in the past week; OHA not to list more details of daily death reports; statistics available in the panel set
PORTLAND, Oregon. (KTVZ) – There are 20 new COVID-19-related deaths in Oregon, increasing the number of deaths in the state to 1,924, the Oregon Health Authority reported on Wednesday.
The OHA also reported 731 new confirmed and presumed cases of COVID-19 at 00:01 on Wednesday, bringing the state total to 140,063. But the agency’s weekly report showed a sharp drop in deaths, cases and hospitalizations last week.
Vaccinations in Oregon
On Wednesday, OHA reported that 14,896 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state’s immunization registry. Of that total, 10,943 doses were administered on Tuesday and 3,953 were administered in the previous days, but entered the vaccine register on Tuesday.
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 timeliness of their data entry into the state’s ALERT Immunization Information System (IIS).
Oregon has administered a cumulative total of 340,369 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines. To date, 600,875 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 Wednesday.
St. Charles Health System reported 13,459 COVID-19 vaccinations given on Wednesday.
COVID-19 Hospitalizations
The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 across Oregon is 302, six fewer than on Tuesday. There are 74 patients with COVID-19 in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which means four more than on Tuesday.
The total number of patients in hospital beds can 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.
More information about the hospital’s capacity can be found here.
St. Charles Bend reported 21 COVID-19 patients at 4 am on Wednesday, three in the ICU and one on a ventilator.
COVID-19 weekly reports
OHA’s weekly COVID-19 report, released on Tuesday, showed sharp drops in daily cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the previous week.
The OHA reported 4,119 new daily cases during the week from Monday, January 18, to Sunday, January 24, a 48% decrease from the previous week.
There were 229 people hospitalized for COVID-19, a 33% decline from the previous week. COVID-19 deaths have also dropped dramatically, to 74, from last week’s 195 pandemic.
There were 116,099 tests for COVID-19 for the week from January 17 to January 23. The percentage of positive tests dropped to 5.1%.
People aged 20 to 49 years were responsible for 54% of cases of COVID-19, while people aged 70 and over were responsible for 77% of deaths associated with the virus.
Wednesday’s COVID-19 Outbreak Report shows 178 active COVID-19 outbreaks in elderly communities and living environments, with three or more confirmed cases and one or more COVID-19-related deaths.
Cases and deaths
note: As of today, OHA will no longer list individual cases of COVID-19-related deaths in Oregon in its daily press releases.
Since the first COVID-19-related death was reported in Oregon by OHA on March 14, 2020, OHA has listed each individual by county of residence, date of death, date of positive test or onset of symptoms and whether individuals had underlying diseases. These updates have been provided daily since March 14, 2020.
“Each COVID-19 death represents a loss, especially for those who knew them best – families, friends and loved ones,” said OHA Director Patrick Allen. “That’s why we list each case.
“Moving forward, we will share COVID-19-related deaths aggregated on public OHA panels, which are updated daily. As the number of virus deaths increases, validating and reporting each death has impacted our daily reports.
“We will continue to honor the lives of each person lost in the pandemic, but in a different way. The panel will provide additional information on COVID-19-related deaths that were not accessible in a visual format before – including data on trends, underlying conditions and configuration. This panel offers the public a clearer picture of the collective toll the virus has caused. But it will never diminish the importance of every Oregonian who is no longer with us. “
Oregon’s continued response to COVID-19 is among the most effective at the national level, as measured in preventing loss of life through measures across the state, the OHA said. Oregon has outperformed almost every other state in containing the COVID-19 virus and preventing COVID-19 deaths.
On January 27, the state ranked fifth lowest in deaths per 100,000 people in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
These results follow our measures that prevented the spread of the virus by the community and that encouraged residents of Oregon to wear masks, observe the physical distance of almost two meters, wash their hands regularly, avoid meetings and stay home when they are sick.
The new confirmed and presumed COVID-19 cases reported on Wednesday are in the following counties: Baker (4), Benton (8), Clackamas (67), Clatsop (4), Columbia (8), Coos (9), Crook (7), Deschutes (24), Douglas (9), Harney (1), Hood River (5), Jackson (35), Jefferson (7), Josephine (16), Klamath (13), Lake (2), Lane (52), Lincoln (3), Linn (21), Malheur (17), Marion (115), Morrow (5), Multnomah (118), Polk (21), Tillamook (1), Umatilla (30), Union (3), Wasco (2), Washington (106) and Yamhill (18).