Oregon reports no new COVID-19 related deaths, 492 cases; vaccinations to expand
(Update: Adding governor's news release)
PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- There are no new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, keeping the state’s death toll at 2,149, the Oregon Health Authority reported Friday.
OHA also reported 492 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Friday, bringing the state total to 152,190.
At a Friday news conference, Gov. Kate Brown and OHA officials said that despite this week's weather-related vaccine shipment delays, those eligible for vaccinations will expand as scheduled on Monday to include those 70 and older, and the following week to seniors over 65.
Vaccinations in Oregon
OHA reported that 25,866 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added Friday to the state immunization registry. Of this total, 18,710 doses were administered on Thursday and 7,156 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on Thursday.
Cumulative daily totals can take several days to finalize because providers have 72 hours to report doses administered and technical challenges have caused many providers to lag in their reporting. OHA has been providing technical support to vaccination sites to improve the timeliness of their data entry into the state’s ALERT Immunization Information System (IIS).
Oregon has now administered a cumulative total of 755,657 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines. To date, 922,300 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon.
These data are preliminary and subject to change. OHA's dashboards provide regularly updated vaccination data, and Oregon’s dashboard has been updated Friday.
St. Charles Health System reported 23,238 COVID-19 vaccinations given as of early Friday.
Weather-related issues during the past week may cause changes to daily number trends reported by OHA in its updates on the cumulative number of doses administered, the daily number of administered doses and the number of doses delivered to Oregon.
OHA remains in regular contact with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for updates on delivery schedules and to ensure Oregon doses are safely delivered to Oregon vaccination sites. Doses scheduled for delivery this week may ship out over the weekend or early next week due to winter weather issues impacting shipments coming from Memphis, TN.
If you are scheduled for a vaccination and have questions about potential delays or disruptions, check with your scheduled vaccine provider for the latest updates.
COVID-19 hospitalizations
The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 176, which is six more than Thursday. There are 49 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is three fewer than Thursday.
St. Charles Bend reported 11 COVID-19 patients as of 4 a.m. Friday, two in the ICU on ventilators.
The total number of patients in hospital beds may fluctuate between report times. The numbers do not reflect admissions per day, nor the length of hospital stay. Staffing limitations are not captured in this data and may further limit bed capacity.
More information about hospital capacity can be found here.
OHA releases new COVID-19 forecast
OHA has released the latest COVID-19 model that shows a slight increase in transmission. The new report estimates that, as of Feb. 3, the statewide reproductive rate was 0.88.
According to the newest forecast, if we continue along our present course of wearing masks, keeping physical distance and restricting our gatherings, daily cases will decline to an average of 320, with 10 fewer COVID-19 hospitalizations and 107 per 140,000 people between Feb. 25 and March 9.
A 30% increase in transmission projects to roughly 510 daily cases and 17 new hospitalizations per day, as well as 170 cases per 100,000 people by mid-March.
The new modeling warns that more Oregonians may be open to resuming activities that pose a higher risk of spread, especially as risk levels change for Oregon counties. That and the potential of a COVID-19 variant that becomes dominant could contribute to greater spread.
The report indicates that 78% of Oregonians regularly wear face coverings and that most Oregonians believe the existing vaccines are safe and effective.
OHA and ODE launch new school dashboard
OHA and the Oregon Department of Education are introducing a new interactive tool highlighting Oregon schools’ operating status. This dashboard displays a school’s current instructional model and ODE’s current school in-person recommendations based on COVID-19 case counts, rates and test positivity by county. The dashboard also highlights how many and which schools are operating under each instructional model.
This new dashboard will enable Oregonians to quickly see what instructional model their school is currently following and the county’s in-person operation recommendations.
This dashboard is a collaboration between OHA and ODE. The school instructional model data displayed is from the previous week. Data is collected on Fridays and will be updated the following Tuesday by 5 p.m.
County school in-person operation recommendation data is for the current week and can be found here.
Cases and deaths
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Friday are in the following counties: Baker (2), Benton (25), Clackamas (27), Columbia (12), Coos (26), Curry (8), Deschutes (11), Douglas (21), Harney (3), Hood River (2), Jackson (52), Jefferson (5), Josephine (23), Klamath (10), Lake (3), Lane (38), Lincoln (1), Linn (8), Malheur (6), Marion (42), Morrow (5), Multnomah (61), Polk (15), Tillamook (1), Umatilla (12), Union (4), Wallowa (2), Wasco (1), Washington (54) and Yamhill (12).
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations
To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine situation in Oregon, visit OHA's webpage, which has a breakdown of distribution and other useful information.
Governor Kate Brown Provides Updates on COVID-19 in Oregon
(Salem, OR) — Governor Kate Brown held a press conference today to update Oregonians on the status of COVID-19 in Oregon. The Governor was joined by Oregon Health Authority (OHA) Director Patrick Allen, State Epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger, Oregon Primary Care Association Executive Director Joan Watson-Patko, and Virginia Garcia Memorial Health System Director of Quality Dr. Sarah Deines. In addition, the Governor shared a video from earlier this morning of former State Senator Margaret Carter getting a COVID-19 vaccine in Portland.
"Oregonians continue to make smart choices, and the numbers speak for themselves," said Governor Brown. "As of yesterday, Oregon had the third lowest infection rate in the nation. And while this is great news, we must remain vigilant in the face of challenges ahead with the new variants. We advise Oregonians to continue to follow safety measures and choose your activities wisely so that you are minimizing risk as best you can.
"I am pleased to share that we now have more than 131,000 students back in the classroom. That’s 20% of our state’s students, and more than double what it was eight weeks ago when I directed the Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority to put more schools on track for in-person instruction. All educators who want a vaccine will soon be fully vaccinated, but we also continue to see the clear science that with rigorous health and safety protocols in place, schools can safely reopen. It is my expectation that more and more schools will bring students back for in-person learning over the coming weeks, and I will continue to do all I can to help make this a reality for our kids.
"I also want to thank every grandchild, son, daughter, neighbor, and friend who has helped our older adults register for vaccine appointments, driven them to vaccination sites, and supported them throughout this pandemic. Despite the severe winter weather over the Presidents Day weekend, we remain on schedule to open vaccinations to people 70 and older on Monday, February 22, and to people 65 and older on Monday, March 1."
The Governor also provided a brief update on recent winter weather, adding: "I want to thank all the local and state workers, first responders, and utility crews who continue to work around the clock to restore power and aid families in need. I declared a state of emergency over the weekend to ensure state resources were made available to help crews on the ground. I have also made the National Guard available to work in partnership with county emergency management in conducting wellness checks. I encourage Oregonians to check in on your neighbors, especially if they are elderly or vulnerable."
A copy of the Governor's prepared remarks from today's press conference is available here.
A recording of today's live-streamed press conference is available here.
More information on vaccines is available at covidvaccine.oregon.gov.
