Oregon hospitals ‘near breaking point’ amid COVID surge, though cases are plateauing
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Health officials say Oregon hospitals are near their COVID-19 breaking point, as the state is expected to reach peak hospitalizations in coming weeks.
Fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant, hospitalizations could soon surpass the pandemic high, a state health official said Friday. As of Thursday, there were 1,130 coronavirus-related hospitalizations. The record is 1,178, from Sept. 1.
“(The pandemic) is not behind us yet,” said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, state health officer and epidemiologist.
As of Thursday, only 59 of Oregon's adult intensive care unit beds were available, and 94% of non-ICU beds were filled.
“Our hospitals are struggling to maintain the fragile balance between providing care for people who are ill with the virus and others needing medical care,” Sidelinger said.
In addition, earlier this week health officials reported that Oregon surpassed 6,000 coronavirus-related deaths.
“What makes these losses more painful is that nearly all our most recent deaths could have been prevented by COVID-19 vaccines, which remain the best protection against serious illness and death,” Sidelinger said.
Nearly 75% of adults in Oregon are fully vaccinated, however, less than half have received their booster shot.
A report released by the Oregon Health Authority on Wednesday shows that more than 70% of COVID-19 cases last week were among unvaccinated people. Breakthrough cases — fully vaccinated people who test positive for the coronavirus — accounted for about 29% of last week’s cases.
Since the start of the pandemic there have been at least 104,088 breakthrough cases identified in Oregon, which is about 17% of the state’s total amount of reported cases throughout the pandemic. About 2.9% of the state’s breakthrough cases have been hospitalized and less than 1% have died. The median age of those deaths is 81, officials said.
But officials say there is some good news — cases are plateauing.
“We may be seeing a light — a slight slowing of omicron’s momentum,” Sidelinger said. “Due to the recent modeling, statewide daily cases appear to have crested the pandemic highs, offering a glimpse of hope in an otherwise bleak pandemic landscape.”
Last week, there were 47,361 new COVID-19 cases reported, a 9.5% decrease from the week before.
Although cases are decreasing, Sidelinger said it will still take several weeks for hospitalizations to peak and then come down to a level that no longer overwhelms hospitals.
Sidelinger said despite the impacts of the pandemic on mental health, the state fortunately is not seeing the increase in suicides that many people feared.
Hospitalizations are expected to continue to rise in the Portland area and elsewhere in the next few weeks, he said, adding that the state is using multiple avenues and agencies to provide needed staff support.
And despite the death rate for the omicron variant being much less than previous variants, Sidelinger said the large number of cases likely mean "those numbers will remain relatively high for some time."
Health officials continue to urge people to get vaccinated and receive their booster, wear masks in public and limit large indoor gatherings.
