Oregon reports five more COVID-19 related deaths, 763 new cases
New capacity limits set for indoor recreation, entertainment
PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- There are five new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 2,514, the Oregon Health Authority reported Thursday.
OHA also reported 763 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Thursday, bringing the state total to 189,162.
OHA releases latest monthly update on breakthrough cases
Oregon Health Authority has identified 611 COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases through May 3, including eight deaths. The number of vaccine breakthrough cases identified in Oregon remains very small, when compared to the more than 1.3 million people who have completed their vaccine series against COVID-19.
Vaccine breakthrough cases are defined as instances in which an individual received a positive COVID-19 test result at least 14 days after the completion of any COVID-19 vaccine series.
OHA is not reporting the regions in which the deaths took place. Of the 611 reported vaccine breakthrough cases, 14% (n=89) were observed in individuals who reside in long-term care facilities or other congregate care settings.
OHA is now providing updates on breakthrough cases the first Thursday of each month. The current report for May 2021 can be found here.
No media briefing Friday; Dr. Sidelinger to provide video overview
There will not be a weekly news conference Friday, but there will be a news conference next week. A short video will be provided via a link in tomorrow’s daily news release to our media colleagues.
Dr. Dean Sidelinger will give an overview of current COVID-19 cases and recent trends in Oregon.
Oregon counties have new indoor capacity limits for indoor recreation and indoor entertainment
Under the direction of Governor Brown, indoor capacity limits in moderate- and high-risk levels are now updated for indoor recreation and fitness and indoor entertainment for Oregon counties. As of Wednesday, indoor entertainment establishments and indoor recreation and fitness establishments in all Oregon counties may allow the following:
- Moderate risk: Maximum 20% occupancy or 100 people total, whichever is larger
- High risk: Maximum 10% occupancy or 50 people total, whichever is larger
Lower and extreme risk capacity limits for these sectors remain the same.
To view the updated capacity limits, please refer to the Sector Risk Level Guidance Chart.
Vaccinations in Oregon
OHA reported Thursday that 36,259 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry. Of this total, 23,539 doses were administered on Wednesday and 12,720 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on Wednesday.
The 7-day running average is now 30,909 doses per day.
Oregon has now administered a total of 1,706,865 first and second doses of Pfizer, 1,349,096 first and second doses of Moderna and 101,923 single doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines. As of Thursday, 1,353,250 people have completed a COVID-19 vaccine series. There are 1,902,244 who have had at least one dose.
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).
To date, 2,062,125 doses of Pfizer, 1,692,720 doses of Moderna and 242,800 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines 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 Thursday.
COVID-19 hospitalizations
The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 328, which is two fewer than Wednesday. There are 90 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is seven more than Wednesday.
The total number of COVID-19 positive patient bed-days in the most recent seven days is 2,364, which is an 8.7% increase from the previous seven days. The peak daily number of beds occupied by COVID-19 positive patients in the most recent seven days is 351.
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.
More information about hospital capacity can be found here.
St. Charles Bend reported 30 COVID-19 patients as of 4 a.m. Thursday, six of them in the ICU, with five on ventilators.
Cases and deaths
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Thursday are in the following counties: Baker (12), Benton (14), Clackamas (38), Clatsop (3), Columbia (9), Coos (3), Crook (14), Curry (4), Deschutes (95), Douglas (13), Grant (3), Harney (1), Hood River (2), Jackson (38), Jefferson (4), Josephine (9), KIamath (31), Lake (1), Lane (70), Lincoln (2), Linn (42), Malheur (5), Marion (72), Morrow (1), Multnomah (115), Polk (20), Tillamook (1), Umatilla (9), Union (1), Wallowa (2), Wasco (2), Washington (107) and Yamhill (20).
Oregon’s 2,510th death is a 69-year-old woman from Josephine County who tested positive on April 4 and died on April 30 at her residence. She had underlying conditions.
Oregon’s 2,511th death is a 91-year-old woman from Jackson County who tested positive on April 28 and died on May 4 at Providence Medford Medical Center. She had underlying conditions.
Oregon’s 2,512th death is a 50-year-old man from Klamath County who tested positive on April 20 and died on May 4 at Sky Lakes Medical Center. He had underlying conditions.
Oregon’s 2,513rd death is a 63-year-old man from Linn County who tested positive on April 15 and died on May 3 at Salem Hospital. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.
Oregon’s 2,514th death is a 68-year-old man from Marion County who tested positive on April 20 and died on May 4 at Salem Hospital. He had underlying conditions.
Reaching people where they are
Some of our neighbors may find it challenging to get to a COVID-19 vaccine clinic. Folks who live in remote areas. People who can’t get time off work. Individuals who are houseless. To reach people where they are, local public health workers are getting creative.
Neva Anderson is an emergency manager and recently led an effort to get truck drivers vaccinated in Linn County, where she works. Commercial truck drivers often work long hours and can travel hundreds of miles a day. To make COVID-19 vaccinations for truck drivers as easy as possible, Anderson’s team visited two truck stops in Linn County, Loves in Albany and Pioneer Villa Truck Plaza in Halsey, where they vaccinated 68 drivers on April 9.
Anderson is also partnering with Gates Community Church of Christ in Gates to make sure folks in that community have convenient access to the COVID-19 vaccine. Anderson said, “Wildfires devastated the area last year and the church opened its doors to help coordinate supplies for?people who lost their homes and needed the basics to get by, like food and shelter. Now we are collaborating with them again so we can provide outreach clinics to folks in the canyon.” That includes vaccinating people at local food banks as they pick up their groceries. To make COVID-19 vaccinations for truck drivers as easy as possible, Anderson’s team visited two truck stops in Linn County.
Volunteers from the Linn County Medical Reserve Corp, Linn County staff and Albany Fire Department emergency personnel are helping with these vaccination efforts.
All over the state, people are finding creative ways to make the COVID-19 vaccine available. Here are some upcoming clinics:
Heart of Hospice is holding a drop-in COVID-19 vaccination clinic at The Dalles Senior Center,1112 W 9th Street in The Dalles. The clinic is today, Thursday, May 6 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be used. The event is open to anyone and no insurance is required.
Golden Dawn Clinic offers an ongoing COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Portland at 8035 SE Holgate Blvd. They are open Mon-Sat from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Call 503-788-9378 to schedule an appointment.
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations
To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine situation in Oregon, visit OHA's webpage (English or Spanish), which has a breakdown of distribution and other information.
