Oregon hospitals near breaking point during COVID surge
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By SARA CLINE
Associated Press/Report for America
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 in Oregon could soon surpass the pandemic high, officials said on Friday. As of Thursday there were 1,130 coronavirus-related hospitalizations. The record is 1,178, from Sept. 1. As of Thursday, only 59 adult Intensive Care Unit beds were available, and 94% of non-ICU beds were filled. In addition, earlier this week health officials reported that Oregon surpassed 6,000 coronavirus-related deaths.