Oregon reports 9 more COVID-19 related deaths, record 2,387 new cases, 670 hospitalizations

Also 3rd straight record hospitalizations; 19-year-old in Union County among latest deaths

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- There are nine new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 2,928, along with a record 2,387 new cases and 670 hospitalizations, the third straight daily record, the Oregon Health Authority reported Thursday. 

OHA reported 2,387 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Thursday, which is a record number of cases and brings the state total to 236,698. 

Vaccinations in Oregon

OHA reported Thursday that 9,965 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry. Of this total, 2,610 were initial doses and 1,051 were second doses administered on Wednesday. The remaining 6,275 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on Wednesday.

The seven-day running average is now 5,492 total doses per day, 3,769 of which are first doses.

Oregon has now administered 2,708,131 first and second doses of Pfizer, 1,803,388 first and second doses of Moderna and 187,629 single doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.

As of Thursday, 2,536,877 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 2,342,257 people have completed a COVID-19 vaccine series.

Cumulative daily totals can take several days to finalize because providers have 72 hours to report doses administered and technical challenges have caused lags in providers reporting updated information. 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).

These data are preliminary and subject to change.

Updated vaccination data are provided on Oregon’s COVID-19 data dashboards and have been updated Thursday.

COVID-19 hospitalizations: ‘It’s like watching a train wreck coming...’

The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 670, which is five more than Wednesday. There are 177 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is five more than Wednesday.

“Our hospitals are full. Patients are boarding and being cared for in emergency departments, when they should be admitted to hospital beds. Our ICUs are full.  Our doctors and nurses are exhausted and rightfully frustrated, because this crisis is avoidable. It is like watching a train wreck coming and knowing that there’s an opportunity to switch tracks, yet we feel helpless while we watch unnecessary loss of life. That is why it is essential that we all do our part to get vaccinated and wear a mask indoors,” said David Zonies, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., FACS, FCCM, Associate Chief Medical Officer and Professor of Surgery at Oregon Health & Science University.

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 36 COVID-19 patients as of early Thursday, eight of whom were in the ICU, with five on ventilators.

Doctor in Klamath Falls seeing younger and sicker patients 

Dr. Grant Niskanen, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Sky Lakes Medical Center in Klamath Falls, recently spoke with the Oregon Health Authority about what he is seeing in his Southern Oregon community hospital. 

“We had one person a couple weeks ago that got a lung transplant ... we have a second person that now is being evaluated for a lung transplant, and when I talk about the patients — like nine or 10 that are currently in our hospital, that's for an acute infection — that's not talking about the four or five that have been here for 20-plus days, who are no longer infected, but still need such amounts of high flow oxygen that we're unable to send them home.” 

Dr. Niskanen says the key to all of this is to get vaccinated. 

“If we all were vaccinated. This would shut down the spread of the virus and shut down the mutations and the variants that are occurring. We’re talking about lives here. I can't emphasize enough the importance of the vaccinations. 

“As a physician, what we really do is just support you. As a patient told me yesterday, (who is on oxygen) — they said — ‘Can you give me something to make me feel better?’ Well, no, we're just supporting you at this point and trying to help you breathe as best as possible. It's a very frustrating illness for both physicians and nurses to care for and to watch these people go on and get progressively sick.”

He says almost all the patients he treats with COVID-19 ask him later if they can get the vaccine once they’re sick in the hospital. 

“By the time you’re in the hospital and critically ill, no, it doesn’t work like that. And all of them say, ‘If I had known about this and how I felt and the effect on my family, I would have gotten the vaccine.’“

Cases and deaths

The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Thursday are in the following counties: Baker (6), Benton (21), Clackamas (198), Clatsop (35), Columbia (62), Coos (55), Crook (10), Curry (25), Deschutes (108), Douglas (137), Harney (3), Hood River (11), Jackson (416), Jefferson (20), Josephine (133), Klamath (15), Lake (1), Lane (210), Lincoln (31), Linn (32), Malheur (5), Marion (148), Morrow (14), Multnomah (210), Polk (42), Tillamook (27), Umatilla (121), Union (22), Wallowa (7), Wasco (25), Washington (189) and Yamhill (48).

Note: Oregon’s 1,640th and 2,078th COVID-19 associated deaths, reported on Jan. 12 and Feb. 12 respectively, are the same person. Because of this error, we are renumbering our reported deaths starting with 2,920 today.

Oregon’s 2,920th COVID-19 associated death is a 47-year-old woman from Josephine County who tested positive on Aug. 9 and died on Aug. 10 at Asante Three River Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 2,921st COVID-19 associated death is a 66-year-old man from Columbia County who tested positive on Aug. 9 and died on Aug. 10 at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 2,922nd COVID-19 associated death is a 70-year-old man from Columbia County who tested positive on July 13 and died on Aug. 2 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 2,923rd COVID-19 associated death is a 35-year-old woman from Morrow County who tested positive on Aug. 10 and died on Aug. 9 at her residence. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 2,924th COVID-19 associated death is a 101-year-old woman from Wasco County who tested positive on Aug. 2 and died on Aug. 9 at her residence. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 2,925th COVID-19 associated death is an 83-year-old woman from Wasco County who tested positive on July 29 and died on Aug. 11 at her residence. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 2,926th COVID-19 associated death is a 19-year-old woman from Union County who tested positive on July 27 and died on Aug. 10 at Providence Portland Medical Center. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 2,927th COVID-19 associated death is a 75-year-old man from Polk County who tested positive on Aug. 5 and died on Aug. 10 at Salem Hospital. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 2,928th COVID-19 associated death is a 90-year-old man from Polk County who tested positive on Aug. 1 and died on Aug. 10 at Salem Hospital. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations  

To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine situation in Oregon, including a breakdown of distribution and other important information, visit OHA's webpage (English or Spanish).