Oregon reports 13 more COVID-19 related deaths, one from Deschutes County; 1,160 new cases

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — There are 13 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, including a Deschutes County resident, raising the state’s death toll to 4,886, the Oregon Health Authority reported Thursday.

OHA also reported 1,160 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Thursday, bringing the state total to 382,990.

OHA releases new COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough report

OHA’s most recent update on COVID-19 breakthrough cases, released Thursday, found that 74.5% of the 5,924 reported COVID-19 cases between Nov. 7 and Nov. 13 occurred in unvaccinated people.

There were 1,508 breakthrough cases, accounting for 25.5% of all cases.

The average age of the breakthrough cases during that period was 45. Forty breakthrough cases involved residents of care facilities, senior living communities or other congregate care settings. There were 37 cases in people aged 12 to 17.

To date, there have been 41,257 COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases in Oregon. The average age of all cases is 48. Breakthrough cases have been reported in all 36 counties.

Cases of COVID-19 are far more common in unvaccinated people, OHA said. The report shows that the rate of COVID-19 in unvaccinated people is four and a half times higher than in vaccinated people.

To date, 4.5% of all vaccine breakthrough cases have been hospitalized and 1.1% have died. The average age of vaccinated people who died was 81.

Vaccination remains the most effective tool to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the agency said.

The number of vaccine breakthrough cases identified in Oregon remains very small, OHA said, when compared to the 2.9 million Oregonians who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The latest breakthrough report can be found here.

Pediatric weekly dashboard update

On Thursday, OHA published its latest dashboard report of pediatric COVID-19 case data in Oregon.

This dashboard replaces the previous report and is published weekly on Thursdays with the most recent full week’s data.

COVID-19 hospitalizations

The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 419, which is eight fewer than Wednesday. There are 104 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is four more than Wednesday.

There are 65 available adult ICU beds out of 689 total (9% availability) and 252 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,123 (6% availability). 

11/18/2021 Available Beds (and Percentage of Staffed Beds Available)
	Statewide	Region 1	Region 2	Region 3	Region 5	Region 6	Region 7	Region 9
Adult ICU beds available	65(9%)	22(6%)	5(6%)	18(20%)	5(8%)	3(30%)	4(8%)	8(31%)
Adult non-ICU beds available	252(6%)	33(2%)	17(3%)	60(10%)	37(9%)	10(21%)	44(10%)	51(43%)

St. Charles Bend reported 47 COVID-19 patients early Thursday, 10 of whom were in the ICU, all on ventilators. Eight of the 10 ICU patients were not fully vaccinated and 40 of the 47 patients were not fully vaccinated, the hospital said.

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.

Note: Please do not visit an emergency department for COVID-19 testing, unless you require emergency care for your symptoms.

Emergency departments in Oregon are under significant strain. You can find a test here.

If you have a medical condition that doesn’t require emergency care, contact your provider. An urgent care center may also help you get the care you need and will save emergency departments from added strain.

More information about hospital capacity can be found here.

Vaccinations in Oregon

OHA reported Thursday that 25,900 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry on Wednesday. Of that total, 3,608 were initial doses, 734 were second doses and 9,809 were third doses and booster doses. The remaining 11,657 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on Wednesday.

The seven-day running average is now 17,986 doses per day.

Oregon has now administered 3,424,408 doses of Pfizer Comirnaty, 40,088 doses of Pfizer pediatric, 2,157,863 doses of Moderna and 237,531 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.

As of Thursday, 2,896,414 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 2,639,902 people have completed a COVID-19 vaccine series.

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.

Get Vaccinated Oregon is important resource for information

The Get Vaccinated Oregon (GVO) tool is an important resource for people in Oregon to find vaccine events and providers, COVID-19 testing and conveniently stay up to date on the latest COVID-19 news.

The GVO locator map connects people to maps of vaccine and testing providers, and hours of operation and phone numbers of vaccination and testing sites, including pharmacies, clinics, and community “pop-up” events. Users can search by vaccine type and testing type.

When people sign up for notifications, they receive updates on new developments, such as vaccine eligibility and new treatments, as well as regional vaccination events. The GVO and subscriber messages are available in 12 different languages.

If you have canceled your subscription to GVO, now is the time to re-subscribe, add someone to your account or create a new account. If you’re already a subscriber, please spread the word to friends and family, especially those who still need to get vaccinated!

For more information and to create an account, visit Get Vaccinated Oregon.

Vaccine Voices: “It’s not every day you get your vaccine in a livestock barn.”

Demand for COVID-19 vaccination has been so high in many counties that local public health authorities have had to get creative in meeting the needs of their communities.

“We were glad to have a very high turnout for the first vaccine clinic we offered after the Moderna boosters where approved,” said Carrie Brogoitti, Union County Public Health Administrator with the Center for Human Development (CHD) in La Grande.

Union County community members line up in their cars to receive COVID-19 vaccines and boosters

To better accommodate the expected volume for upcoming events, CHD partnered with OHA to stand up vaccine events where people could drive through barns at Union County Fairgrounds to get vaccinated. “Thankfully we were able to quickly shift our upcoming events to the Union County Fairgrounds,” said Carrie, “and the first event went great.”

So far this month, during just two days, more than 500 people have driven through the fairground barns to receive vaccinations. “The response from the community was very positive,” said Carrie. “People were able to move through the process quickly. And, it’s not every day you get your vaccine in a livestock barn.”

Find more information about CHD on its website or by calling 541-962-8800.

Read more about this event at Oregon Vaccine News.

Cases and COVID-19 deaths

The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Thursday are in the following counties: Baker (11), Benton (20), Clackamas (95), Clatsop (9), Columbia (12), Coos (15), Crook (13), Curry (6), Deschutes (127), Douglas (72), Grant (4), Harney (2), Hood River (3), Jackson (67), Jefferson (10), Josephine (29), Klamath (20), Lake (1), Lane (80), Lincoln (15), Linn (66), Malheur (11), Marion (116), Morrow (8), Multnomah (141), Polk (27), Sherman (3), Tillamook (4), Umatilla (16), Union (10), Wallowa (1), Wasco (10), Washington (110) and Yamhill (26).

Oregon’s 4,874th COVID-19 related death is a 43-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive on Aug. 17 and died on Sept. 2 at his residence. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 4,875th COVID-19 related death is a 59-year-old man from Jackson County who tested positive on Aug. 25 and died on Sept. 16 at Portland VA Medical Center. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 4,876th COVID-19 related death is a 74-year-old woman from Clackamas County who tested positive on Sept. 1 and died on Sept. 17 at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 4,877th COVID-19 related death is an 88-year-old man from Marion County who tested positive on Jan. 4 and died on April 3 at his residence. The death certificate listed COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 4,878th COVID-19 related death is a 64-year-old man from Curry County who died on Aug. 13 at Curry Medical Center. The death certificate listed COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 4,879th COVID-19 related death is a 66-year-old woman from Curry County who died on Aug. 5 at Curry Medical Center. 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 4,880th COVID-19 related death is a 78-year-old woman from Josephine County who tested positive on Nov. 8 and died on Nov. 16 at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 4,881st COVID-19 related death is a 51-year-old man from Linn County who tested positive on Oct. 29 and died on Nov. 12 at Salem Hospital. Presence of underlying conditions are being confirmed.

Oregon’s 4,882nd COVID-19 related death is an 86-year-old man from Union County who tested positive on Nov. 15 and died on Nov. 16 at Grande Ronde Hospital. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 4,883rd COVID-19 related death is a 52-year-old woman from Washington County who tested positive on Aug. 27 and died on Oct. 13 at OHSU Hillsboro Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 4,884th COVID-19 related death is a 62-year-old man from Washington County who died on Sept. 22 at Kaiser Westside Medical Center. The death certificate listed COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 4,885th COVID-19 related death is an 89-year-old woman from Washington County who tested positive on Oct. 23 and died on Nov. 6 at her residence. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 4,886th COVID-19 related death is an 89-year-old man from Deschutes County who tested positive on Nov. 12 and died on Nov. 17 at St. Charles Bend. He had underlying conditions.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations  

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