OHA reports decline in Oregon COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths over past 2 weeks

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Oregon Health Authority's COVID-19 Biweekly Data Report, released Wednesday, shows a decrease in COVID-19-related cases, hospitalizations and deaths since the previous biweekly period.

OHA reported 20,451 new cases of COVID-19 from June 12 to June 25, a 2.8% decrease over the previous biweekly total of 21,038. Over the last six weeks, reported hospitalizations and deaths have increased slightly.

During the two-week period of June 12-25, test positivity was 13.6%, up from 12.3% in the previous two-week period.

Wednesday’s COVID-19 Biweekly Outbreak Report shows 193 active outbreaks in care facilities, senior living communities and congregate care living settings with three or more confirmed COVID-19 cases or one or more COVID-19-related deaths.

Reporting of hospital capacity data moves to weekly schedule

The cadence of OHA’s COVID-19 hospitalization and hospital capacity reporting will change starting July 1. Data on the COVID-19 hospital capacity dashboards, as well as counts of current COVID-19-positive hospitalized patients published on the COVID-19 Update dashboard and on social media, will be updated weekly on Wednesdays. The first weekly update to the COVID-19 hospital capacity dashboards, scheduled for July 6, will also feature enhancements to make the dashboards accessible to more users.

Updates made to Long-Term Care Facility COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard

Starting Wednesday, OHA’s Long-Term Care Facility COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard will show the proportion of staff and residents who are up to date with COVID-19 vaccination and residents who have received a second booster dose. The dashboard already provides existing information about primary series vaccination. The updates allow OHA to continue to track vaccination efforts at nursing, assisted living and residential care facilities licensed by the Oregon Department of Human Services’ Office of Aging and People with Disabilities. The dashboard will continue to be updated on a weekly basis.

Long-term care facilities are required to report COVID-19 vaccination data to the state, effective June 1, 2021.

During the week of June 6–12, 50% of staff and 73% of residents were reported as up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines. For residents, 26% were reported as receiving a second booster dose. For this reporting, persons are up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines when they have received all doses in the primary series and one booster dose, when eligible, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network. This definition is expected to incorporate recommended second boosters to be considered up to date, in the next quarter.

Progress has been made by Oregon long-term care facilities in surpassing the state's 80% benchmark for COVID-19 primary series vaccination, especially among staff, with 87% of staff completing their primary vaccine series, compared to 62% last year. However, given residents and staff are ever-changing, OHA and ODHS continue to collaborate with facilities, labor, trade associations and pharmacies to promote receipt of initial series and booster doses for long-term care staff and residents who are eligible.

OHA updates population data

Starting Wednesday, OHA has updated rates published in COVID-19 reports using 2021 population data from Portland State University’s Population Research Center and 2020 data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. These changes affected the Biweekly Data Report and COVID-19 Tableau dashboards.

OHA had previously been using 2020 population data from PSU and 2019 data from the ACS to calculate rates.

Case rates by the following demographic groups will be affected:

• Sex
• Age group
• Race
• Ethnicity
• County

Vaccination rates by the following demographic groups will be affected:

• Sex
• Age group
• County
• ZIP code tabulation area

Population estimates by rarest race and ethnicity, which are only used for COVID-19 vaccination rates, will be updated at a future date.

This update will ensure that OHA is displaying and sharing the most up-to-date and accurate information available for case, testing and vaccination rates in specific populations that have changed in the last year. Case, testing and vaccination rates may shift slightly because of this change.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective at protecting people from getting seriously ill, being hospitalized and dying. The CDC recommends a COVID-19 primary series vaccines for everyone ages 6 months and older, and COVID-19 boosters for everyone ages 5 years and older, if eligible. For more information on where to get a vaccine or your booster dose in Oregon, click here. 

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.