Oregon reports 23 more COVID-19 related deaths, 2,827 new cases, 1,178 hospitalizations

St. Charles Bend reports record 89 patients, 12 in ICU

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — There are 23 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 3,221, the Oregon Health Authority reported Wednesday.

OHA also reported 2,827 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, bringing the state total to 279,086.

Schools can register now to test students and staff for COVID-19

Students returning to Oregon’s classrooms this fall may have ready access to COVID-19 testing, but schools wishing to participate must register for the programs now for the 2021-22 school year. This applies even if they participated last school year.

Robust testing programs are offered through the Oregon Health Authority, in partnership with the Oregon Department of Education.

Opt-in programs include:

• Diagnostic testing: For students or staff with symptoms of COVID-19 or an exposure to COVID-19, the program uses Abbott BinaxNOW rapid testing kits. This essential access to free testing can help diagnose COVID-19 infection early and, when recommended by the local public health authority, may shorten the duration of quarantine for exposed students.
• Weekly screening testing for unvaccinated K-12 staff: Staff may opt in to this program. These tests are self-collected at home and sent to a regional laboratory for processing. Testing is confidential and enrollment forms can be found here.
• Weekly screening testing of unvaccinated students[i]: Schools must opt in to the program. Then, households may opt in through their schools for testing performed in collaboration with a regional laboratory partner. Program details vary by region and school.

The testing program is a component of the revised “Ready Schools, Safe Learners Resiliency Framework for the 2021-22 School Year”, which was released in June 2021.

Regular and reliable screening testing can identify COVID-19 infections early and help slow transmission in K-12 settings.

For more details on testing and testing options for students, teachers and staff, please visit here. You may also go to the Oregon's COVID-19 Testing in K-12 schools web page.

[1] The K-12 student screening testing program is supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as part of a financial assistance award to the State of Oregon. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HHS or the U.S. Government.

COVID-19 hospitalizations

The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 1,178, which is 16 more than Tuesday. There are 358 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is 36 more than Tuesday.

There are 52 available adult ICU beds out of 680 total (8% availability) and 326 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,314 (8% availability). 

St. Charles Bend reported a record 89 COVID-19 patients as of early Wednesday, a dozen of whom were in the ICU, 10 on ventilators.

Of the 89 patients, 74 were not fully vaccinated and 15 were, the hospital said. Of the 12 in the ICU, 10 were not fully vaccinated and two were.

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.

Note: Please do not visit an emergency department for COVID-19 testing, unless you require emergency care for your symptoms.

Emergency departments in Oregon are under significant strain responding to the current surge in COVID-19. You can find a test here.  

If you have a medical condition that doesn’t require emergency care, contact your provider. An urgent care center may also help you get the care you need and will save emergency departments from added strain.  

More information about hospital capacity can be found here.

Vaccinations in Oregon

Today, OHA reported that 10,897 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry on Aug. 31. Of this total, 4,901 were administered on Aug. 31: 2,517 were initial doses and 1,701 were second doses. The remaining 4,901 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on Aug. 31.

The seven-day running average is now 8,674 doses per day.

Oregon has now administered 2,819,684 first and second doses of Pfizer Comirnaty, 1,848,312 first and second doses of Moderna and 199,889 single doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.

As of today, 2,634,870 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 2,407,200 people have completed a COVID-19 vaccine series.

These data are preliminary and subject to change.

Updated vaccination data are provided on Oregon’s COVID-19 data dashboards and have been updated today.

COVID-19 weekly cases, hospitalizations and deaths rise

OHA’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released Wednesday, shows continued increases in daily cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

OHA reported 16,252 new cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, Aug. 23 through Sunday, Aug. 29. That represents a 10% increase over the previous week and the eighth consecutive week of increases.

There were 1,000 new COVID-19 hospitalizations, up from 601 last week. That also marked the eighth consecutive week of increases. 

There were 119 reported COVID-19 related deaths, up from 87 reported the previous week and the highest weekly death toll since January 2021.

There were 160,605 tests for COVID-19 for the week of Aug. 22 through Aug. 28.  The percentage of positive tests increased to 12.4%.

Wednesday’s COVID-19 Weekly Outbreak Report shows 144 active COVID-19 outbreaks in senior living communities and congregate living settings, with three or more confirmed cases and one or more COVID-19 related deaths.

Cases and deaths

The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Wednesday are in the following counties: Baker (13), Benton (21), Clackamas (286), Clatsop (24), Columbia (21), Coos (57), Crook (19), Curry (27), Deschutes (209), Douglas (154), Grant (5), Harney (14), Hood River (20), Jackson (251), Jefferson (22), Josephine (120), Klamath (45), Lake (6), Lane (223), Lincoln (53), Linn (141), Malheur (85), Marion (254), Morrow (7), Multnomah (263), Polk (93),Sherman (5), Tillamook (26), Umatilla (79), Union (20), Wallowa (7), Wasco (18), Washington (184) and Yamhill (55).

Note: More information about the cases and deaths will be provided in an updated news release

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations  

To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine situation in Oregon, visit OHA's webpage (English or Spanish), which has a breakdown of distribution and other information.