Oregon reports 9 more COVID-19 deaths, 2 in Deschutes County; 251 cases

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- There are nine new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, including two in Deschutes County, raising the state’s death toll to 2,293, the Oregon Health Authority reported Friday.

OHA also reported 251 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Friday, bringing the state total to 156,884.

Vaccinations in Oregon

OHA reported that 38,632 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added Friday to the state immunization registry. Of this total, 22,438 doses were administered on Thursday and 16,194 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on Thursday.

Cumulative daily totals can take several days to finalize because providers have 72 hours to report doses administered and technical challenges have caused many providers to lag in their reporting. OHA has been providing technical support to vaccination sites to improve the timeliness of their data entry into the state’s ALERT Immunization Information System (IIS).

Oregon has now administered a cumulative total of 1,082,241 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines. To date, 1,348,255 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon.

These data are preliminary and subject to change. OHA's dashboards provide regularly updated vaccination data, and Oregon’s dashboard has been updated Friday.

St. Charles Health System reported 29,001 COVID-19 vaccinations given as of early Friday.

COVID-19 hospitalizations

The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 132, which is eight fewer than Thursday. There are 30 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is one more than Thursday.

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.

St. Charles Bend reported 10 COVID-19 patients as of 4 a.m. Friday, one in the ICU and on a ventilator.

More information about hospital capacity can be found here.

OHA updates methods for counting age and race data in vaccination records

OHA has adjusted how it reports race and ethnicity data on its COVID-19 dashboards, starting in late February, for persons entered in the state’s immunization registry known as ALERT Immunization Information System (IIS), or ALERT IIS.

The system previously counted race and ethnicity data for persons who have received a COVID-19 vaccine as non-exclusive categories, where an individual contributed to the counts of all races that were indicated in their ALERT IIS record. Starting Feb. 25, race and ethnicity data began to be counted in only one racial or ethnic group.

This change followed recommendations provided by the Oregon Office of Equity and Inclusion. The race and ethnic categories include: American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian, Black, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, White, other race and unknown. The category of Hispanic is treated as a racial group.

Individuals may still have multiple indications for race on their ALERT IIS record.

Age category listings for persons also changed on Feb. 25 to reflect the state state’s phased approach in opening up vaccine eligibility to older Oregonians. The dashboards now show older Oregonians in five-year grouping, for ages between 60 and 80 years old.

Starting Friday, data on Oregonians who have been vaccinated will include race and ethnicity information at the county level on the COVID-19 dashboards.

Cases and deaths

Note: A server issue Thursday and a large volume of approximately 29,000 electronic laboratory reports (ELRs) received on March 3 contribute to Friday’s high ELR counts. The large volume of test results is from March 2020 through March 2021. Friday’s test counts include this grouping of ELRs. Percent positivity was lower than anticipated Friday.

The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Friday are in the following counties: Baker (7), Benton (5), Clackamas (17), Clatsop (1), Coos (31), Crook (1), Curry (5), Deschutes (15), Douglas (24), Grant (3), Jackson (29),Jefferson (1), Josephine (7), Klamath (4), Lake (1), Lane (14), Linn (4), Malheur (4), Marion (22), Multnomah (13), Polk (10), Tillamook (4), Umatilla (10), Union (2), Wallowa (1), Washington (15) and Yamhill (1).

Oregon’s 2,285th COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old woman in Deschutes County who tested positive on Dec. 25 and died on Jan. 20 at her residence. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 2,286th COVID-19 death is an 88-year-old woman in Deschutes County who died on Jan. 24 at her residence. The death certificate listed COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 2,287th COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old man in Jackson County who tested positive on Jan. 28 and died on March 3 at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 2,288th COVID-19 death is an 80-year-old man in Jackson County who tested positive on Jan. 27 and died on Feb. 26 at his residence. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 2,289th COVID-19 death is a 64-year-old woman in Josephine County who tested positive on Dec. 22 and died on Feb. 19 at Stanford Health Care. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 2,290th COVID-19 death is a 95-year-old man in Lane County who tested positive on Feb. 19 and died on Feb. 27 at his residence. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 2,291st COVID-19 death is an 88-year-old woman in Lane County who tested positive on Dec. 23 and died on Dec. 29 at her residence. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 2,292nd COVID-19 death is an 84-year-old woman in Polk County who died on Jan. 27 at her residence. The death certificate listed COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 2,293rd COVID-19 death is an 81-year-old woman in Washington County who tested positive on December 31 and died on Jan. 10 at her residence. She had underlying conditions.

In case you missed it: Partners promote equitable access at Celilo Village

In yesterday’s edition of OHA’s Coronavirus Update, we spotlighted the work of OHA partner One Community Health on a vaccine clinic in Celilo Village. It was a vaccination event that?required?collaboration between two states, four counties, the?Intertribal Fish Commission, social service agencies and transportation partners.

“Our Longhouse is a place of worship, and we haven’t been able to use it during COVID,” says Karen?Whitford, a Tribal Elder who lives?12?miles east of the?Dalles?in?Celilo?Village.?On?Jan. 27,?after a?ceremonial?prayer,?Whitford?and 103 Tribal members from throughout the Columbia River Gorge?received first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine?at the Longhouse.

Read the full story in Thursday’s newsletter. To subscribe, visit this page.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations

To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine situation in Oregon, visit OHA's webpage, which has a breakdown of distribution and other useful information.