Deschutes County reports 326 COVID-19 cases, sets daily record; rate leads state
(Update: Deschutes County has record case count; rate tops state)
Weekly report shows 25% jump in daily cases but fewer hospitalizations (lowest since July), deaths
PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — There are nine new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 5,640, the Oregon Health Authority reported Wednesday.
OHA also reported 2,331 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, bringing the state total to 418,333.
Oregon's daily tally is close to the state's peak of about 2,600 cases, seen in late August, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Delays in processing mean OHA does not yet have hard data to back up assertions that the omicron variant has become the dominant strain in the state, the newspaper said.
However, Deschutes County's 326 cases reported Wednesday was its highest tally since the pandemic began, county spokeswoman Morgan Emerson confirmed.
"With significant increases in case counts, now is a great time to get your booster or get vaccinated," Emerson said. "Public Health is offering vaccine clinics across Deschutes County; you can find a convenient location at www.deschutes.org/covid19vaccine."
Deschutes County's case rate for the past week also led the state in Wednesday's report, at 474.5 per 100,000 residents.
The county's COVID-19 dashboard Wednesday indicated there are 4,348 active cases, or one in every 45 residents, and there have been nearly 26,000 total cases since the pandemic began. The county has reported 215 deaths, while more than 21,000 are reported to have recovered.
COVID-19 weekly cases increase, hospitalizations and deaths decline
OHA’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released Wednesday, showed higher daily cases but declines in COVID-19 related hospitalizations and deaths.
OHA reported 6,987 new cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, Dec. 21, through Sunday, Dec. 27. That is a 25% increase over the previous week. That was despite a 7.1% decline in reported test results for the week.
There were 136,789 tests for COVID-19 for the week of Dec. 19 through Dec. 25. The percentage of positive tests increased to 7.4%, from 4.8% the previous week.
There were 185 new COVID-19 related hospitalizations, compared to 286 last week — a 35% drop. That marked the lowest weekly total since the week of July 19 through July 25.
There were 89 reported COVID-19-related deaths, down from 114 reported the previous week.
Wednesday’s COVID-19 Weekly Outbreak Report shows 48 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.
State continues march toward million-boosters goal
Oregon continues to move closer to meeting Gov. Kate Brown’s goal, announced Dec. 17, of getting 1 million more people in the state a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of January.
As of Wednesday, 833,287 more people in Oregon need to get a booster to reach the goal and make our state safer from the Omicron variant, OHA said. Find a booster here.
Since the challenge began, an additional 166,713 Oregonians have received a booster.
COVID-19 hospitalizations
The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 419, which is 21 more than Tuesday. There are 92 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is five fewer than Tuesday.
There are 50 available adult ICU beds out of 649 total (8% availability) and 298 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,112 (7% availability).
| 12/29/2021 Available Beds (and Percentage of Staffed Beds Available) | ||||||||
| Statewide | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 3 | Region 5 | Region 6 | Region 7 | Region 9 | |
| Adult ICU beds available | 50(8%) | 19(6%) | 3(3%) | 10(12%) | 6(10%) | 1(10%) | 9(21%) | 2(8%) |
| Adult non-ICU beds available | 298(7%) | 54(3%) | 8(1%) | 55(10%) | 35(8%) | 5(10%) | 92(22%) | 49(43%) |
Statewide regions are as follows:
Region 1: Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Multnomah, Tillamook and Washington counties
Region 2: Benton, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties
Region 3: Coos, Curry, Douglas and Lane counties
Region 5: Jackson and Josephine counties
Region 6: Hood River, Gilliam, Sherman and Wasco counties
Region 7: Crook, Deschutes, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake and Wheeler counties
Region 9: Baker, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, Union and Wallowa counties
St. Charles Bend reported 23 COVID-19-positive patients as of early Wednesday, three of whom were in the ICU, all on ventilators. None of the ICU patients were fully vaccinated, the hospital said, while 22 of the 23 COVID-19-positive patients were not fully vaccinated.
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. 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
OHA reported Wednesday that 18,185 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry on Tuesday. Of that total, 1,273 were initial doses, 1,050 were second doses, and 6,570 were third doses and booster doses. The remaining 9,235 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry Dec. 28.
The seven-day running average is now 13,766 doses per day.
Oregon has now administered 3,789,744 doses of Pfizer Comirnaty, 161,871 doses of Pfizer Pediatric, 2,493,141 doses of Moderna and 255,390 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.
As of Wednesday, 3,044,783 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 2,763,937 people have completed a COVID-19 vaccine series.
Notably, Oregon surpassed 100,000 children vaccinated against COVID-19. To date, 100,627 children between 5 and 11 years old have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
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.
Cases and deaths
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Wednesday are in the following counties: Baker (5), Benton (67), Clackamas (141), Clatsop (16), Columbia (10), Coos (36), Crook (24), Curry (3), Deschutes (326), Douglas (47), Gilliam (2), Grant (11), Harney (1), Hood River (15), Jackson (144), Jefferson (37), Josephine (45), Klamath (14), Lake (1), Lane (131), Lincoln (23), Linn (85), Malheur (20), Marion (168), Morrow (2), Multnomah (419), Polk (39), Tillamook (6), Umatilla (90), Union (1), Wallowa (2), Wasco (12), Washington (286) and Yamhill (102).
Oregon’s 5,632nd COVID-19 related death is a 70-year-old man from Polk County who tested positive Dec. 9 and died Dec. 26 at Salem Hospital. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.
Oregon’s 5,633rd COVID-19 related death is an 86-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive Dec. 23 and died Dec. 28 at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.
Oregon’s 5,634th COVID-19 related death is an 85-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive Dec. 15 and died Dec. 24 at Legacy Mt. Hood Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.
Oregon’s 5,635th COVID-19 related death is a 73-year-old woman from Marion County who tested positive Dec. 11 and died Dec. 22 at Salem Hospital. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.
Oregon’s 5,636th COVID-19 related death is a 74-year-old woman from Josephine County who tested positive Dec. 2 and died Dec. 27 at Providence Medford Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.
Oregon’s 5,637th COVID-19 related death is a 91-year-old woman from Josephine County who tested positive Dec. 21 and died Dec. 27 at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center. She had underlying conditions.
Oregon’s 5,638th COVID-19 related death is an 83-year-old man from Josephine County who tested positive Oct. 15 and died Nov. 26 at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.
Oregon’s 5,639th COVID-19 related death is an 88-year-old man from Coos County who tested positive Nov. 29 and died Dec. 26 at Bay Area Hospital. He had underlying conditions.
Oregon’s 5,640th COVID-19 related death is a 78-year-old man from Clackamas County who tested positive Dec. 15 and died Dec. 23 at Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations
To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine situation in Oregon, visit OHA's web page (English or Spanish), which has a breakdown of distribution and other information.
