Oregon reports 3 more COVID-19 deaths, 2 in Deschutes County

 PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- There are three new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, two of them in Deschutes County, raising the state’s death toll to 2,319, the Oregon Health Authority reported Friday.

The two newly reported Deschutes County COVID-19 related deaths bring the total to 68.

OHA also reported 402 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Friday, bringing the state total to 159,037.

Vaccinations in Oregon

OHA also reported that 34,613 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added Friday to the state immunization registry. Of this total, 23,075 doses were administered Thursday and 11,538 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 1,269,595 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines. To date, 1,567,515 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 32,272 COVID-19 vaccinations given as of early Friday.

COVID-19 hospitalizations

The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 123, which is two more than Thursday. There are 23 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is one fewer 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 eight COVID-19 patients as of 4 a.m. Friday, two of whom were in the ICU, one on a ventilator.

More information about hospital capacity can be found here.

Cases and deaths

The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Friday are in the following counties: Baker (3), Benton (18), Clackamas (49), Clatsop (2), Columbia (2), Coos (21), Crook (1), Curry (5), Deschutes (8), Douglas (19), Grant (4), Hood River (1), Jackson (24), Jefferson (2), Josephine (25), Klamath (11), Lake (2), Lane (14), Lincoln (5), Linn (12), Malheur (1), Marion (34), Multnomah (73), Polk (8), Tillamook (5), Umatilla (3), Union (4), Washington (41) and Yamhill (5).

Oregon’s 2,317th COVID-19 death is a 93-year-old man in Josephine County who tested positive on March 1 and died on March 10 at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 2,318th COVID-19 death is a 70-year-old woman in Deschutes County who died on Feb. 2 at St. Charles Bend. 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 2,319th COVID-19 death is a 63-year-old man in Deschutes County who tested positive on Jan. 24 and died on Feb. 12 at St. Charles Bend. He had underlying conditions.

New COVID-19 model released

The Oregon Health Authority released Friday its latest COVID-19 forecast, which estimated that transmission of the virus increased in December but declined in recent weeks.

The model also provided an update on the effective reproduction rate, which calculates the expected number of secondary cases that a single case generates. The effective reproduction rate for early February through Feb. 24 was 0.83.

At that level of transmission, the projected average of new daily cases would be 170 between March 17 and March 30, and daily hospitalizations would increase by six. 

If, because of the presence of new variants or a lack of adherence to protective measures, transmission increases by 30%, the estimated reproduction rate would be 1.1. At that rate, estimated daily cases would climb to 265, and daily hospitalizations would increase by 10.

The report also indicates that public support for increased restrictions is waning and that Oregonians are resuming activities that were suspended earlier in the pandemic.

As access to vaccine gradually expands throughout the state, the projections on spread of the virus emphasize the importance of continuing to practice preventive measures that can slow the spread of the disease. It is important that all Oregonians continue to:

• Maintain physical distance.
• Wear a face covering or mask.
• Avoid gatherings with non-household members
• Practice good hand hygiene. 

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations

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