The Oregon Health Authority reported on Wednesday 731 new cases of coronavirus and another 20 deaths, as state officials announced they would stop providing detailed summaries of deaths.
State officials during the pandemic released basic biographical information for each COVID-19 fatality, including the person’s age, county, place of death, date of a positive coronavirus test, date of death and general presence of underlying health conditions.
But without warning, the agency announced that it would end on Wednesday, because it became too expensive for state epidemiologists who have been providing this information daily for 10 months.
The abrupt change comes when Governor Kate Brown faces criticism for her decision to prioritize vaccination of teachers before the elderly, who are responsible for the vast majority of deaths in Oregon. The end of detailed descriptions of deaths will make it difficult to know precisely how many Oregon seniors test positive for coronavirus and subsequently die during the period when Brown allowed teachers to receive vaccines before the elderly.
On Wednesday, the state unveiled a new data panel that includes summary details of the underlying health conditions of those who died with COVID-19. This is something that the agency refused to disclose when requested by The Oregonian / OregonLive five months ago, saying the data was not useful and created confusion when it was previously disclosed.
Robb Cowie, a spokesman for the Oregon Health Authority, said the decision to stop reporting detailed death information is “a matter of capacity” for state officials and insisted that the newly created data page, with an “image composed, is ultimately more revealing. “
On its final day of detailed reports, Oregon revealed the death of a 27-year-old woman from Hood River County without underlying health problems, who died on January 23 at Oregon Health & Science University.
This level of detail will be painted white from now on. The death would be listed online as someone aged 20 to 29, with no way of knowing the person’s county, sex, date of a positive coronavirus test, date of death, whether the person died at home or in the hospital, or whether person had underlying health conditions.
Oregon will report deaths only jointly by age group, county and gender.
“Every COVID-19 death represents a loss, especially for those who knew them best – families, friends and loved ones,” said Patrick Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority, in a statement. “That’s why we list each case.”
The state will now release aggregated fatality data, as well as a snapshot of the underlying health conditions and symptoms among those who died, including the number of people who died inside and outside health centers by date.
“This panel provides the public with a clearer picture of the collective tribute the virus has caused,” said Allen. “But that will never diminish the importance of every Oregonian who is no longer with us.”
It is not clear how many states, if any, have provided detailed summaries of each death during the pandemic. Cowie said that sharing that level of detail on a daily basis is time consuming and essentially requires dedicating a full-time job to researching an online database that collects the information for publication.
Amid record deaths in December and early January, state officials faced challenges in providing timely information. Sometimes they delayed the release of full summaries of the deaths until late at night, when the daily count of fatalities reached tens.
The authorities had been considering a change for months, when the deaths were still in the hundreds, but they chose to announce it before the 2,000 deadline.
State officials began to provide detailed information with the first death on March 14. Facing concerns about inadequate transparency in other coronavirus data, Governor Kate Brown later that month said she instructed the health authority to “share all COVID-19 information with the public that does not compromise patient privacy. “
Asked on Wednesday about the health authority’s decision to stop sharing detailed summaries of deaths, Brown’s office did not respond.
Where the new cases are by municipality: 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) .
The prevalence of infections: The state reported 806 new positive tests out of 17,604 tests performed, equaling a 4.6% positivity rate.
Who was infected: New confirmed or suspected infections increased among the following age groups: 0-9 (36); 10-19 (82); 20-29 (153); 30-39 (101); 40-49 (125); 50-59 (90); 60-69 (61); 70-79 (37); 80 and older (24).
Who is in the hospital: The state reported 302 Oregon residents with confirmed coronavirus infections at the hospital on Wednesday, six fewer than on Tuesday. Of those, 74 patients with coronavirus were in intensive care units, four more than on Tuesday.
Vaccines: Oregon reported that 340,369 doses of the vaccine were administered, or about 57% of the doses received. Oregon reported 14,896 new doses administered, which include 10,943 on Tuesday and the rest of the previous days.
Since it started: Oregon reported 140,063 confirmed or suspected infections and 1,924 deaths, among the lowest per capita numbers in the country. To date, the state has reported 3,122,704 laboratory test reports.
– Brad Schmidt; [email protected]; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt