Oregon reports 71 new COVID-19 cases; no new deaths for third straight day
No new Central Oregon cases reported; new data shows drop in positive cases amid increase in testing
PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Oregon’s death toll from COVID-19 is unchanged for a third straight day and the 11th time this month, remaining at 148, while the latest data shows a promising drop in the percentage of positive test results, the Oregon Health Authority reported Wednesday.
OHA also reported 71 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, bringing the state total to 4,038, along with 112,954 negative test results.
The new confirmed and presumptive cases reported Wednesday are in the following counties: Clackamas (4), Hood River (1), Jackson (5), Lake (2), Lincoln (2), Marion (6), Multnomah (41), Polk (2), Wasco (2), Washington (5), Yamhill (1).
Crook County remains at six cases and 525 negative test results, Deschutes County at 120 cases and 4,863 negative results and Jefferson County with 24 cases and 795 negative results.
OHA investigating COVID-19 increase
OHA and local county health authorities are investigating an increase in COVID-19 cases tied to an outbreak at specific locations of a business that operates in the Tri-county region and the Willamette Valley. At this time, there is no indication that the outbreak at these locations poses any significant risk to surrounding communities.
The situation remains under investigation as health officials gather more information. OHA expects more positive test results to be included in the state’s case totals over the next few days as test results are completed. More details about the outbreak, including location information, will be made available in coming days.
Weekly Report Notes Continued Increase in Testing, Decrease in Positive Cases
OHA’s COVID-19 Weekly Report was released today, showing that OHA recorded 289 new cases of COVID-19 infection last week, a 26 percent drop from the previous week, while tests reported rose by 5 percent to 17,214. The percentage of those tests which came back positive fell to 1.7 percent. Percentage positive is a key indicator that epidemiologists track in understanding the spread of the disease. The lower the percentage positive the better. Regrettably, deaths rose by 10 last week, to 148 people (0.3 deaths per 10,000 Oregonians) since the beginning of the outbreak.
New this week in the Weekly Report is a breakdown of where Oregonians are hospitalized with COVID-19. The data, which are based on voluntary hospital reporting, show hospitals with 10 or more cases with specific numbers while hospitals with fewer than 10 hospitalized COVID-19 patients are listed without specific numbers.
Also of note: The COVID-19 Weekly Report has changed the publication day from Tuesdays to Wednesdays, starting today.
Daily Update now included in the daily new cases releases
OHA is now including a link to the Oregon COVID-19 Daily Update in the daily new cases news release. The Daily Update is a detailed look at COVID-19 in Oregon, including testing data, hospital capacity, and cases broken down by demographic information such as age groups, gender, race and ethnicity.
Stay informed about COVID-19:
Oregon response: The Oregon Health Authority leads the state response.
United States response: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention leads the U.S. response.
Global response: The World Health Organization guides the global response.
