Oregon reports near-record 2,948 new COVID-19 cases, 15 more deaths

(Update: Oregonian corrects that Thursday's case count was not a record)

Deschutes County again tops state with 565.4 cases per 100,000 residents in past week

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Oregon Health Authority reported a near-record 2,948 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 Thursday, along with 15 new COVID-19 related deaths, raising the state’s death toll to 5,655 as the more-contagious Omicron variant sends case counts surging across the nation.

The new cases bring the state total to 421,263 since the pandemic began.

The 7-day daily average of new cases jumped to 1,532, and the test positivity rate hit 15.5%, triple the level two weeks prior and rivaling some of the highest levels seen during the pandemic, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. The state's record daily case count was 3,207 on Aug. 27.

For the second straight day, Deschutes County topped the state in the rate of cases per 100,000 in the last seven days, jumping to 565.4, followed by less-populous Grant County at 546.8. Thursday's reported test positivity for Deschutes County of 22.4% was third-highest in the state, behind only Sherman County at 33% and Umatilla County at 29.1%

To date, the state has only identified 24 cases of the very contagious Omicron variant in its sequencing of virus specimens, but officials say that’s because of the small number of specimens being processed each week and delays in that sampling, the newspaper reported.

Omicron is generally thought to be a less lethal variant that causes milder infections. Public health officials say those who are fully vaccinated and boosted have strong protection against serious illness, yet are still susceptible to breakthrough cases. And they believe the coming tidal wave of omicron infections will cause severe cases, clog the already strained health care system and ultimately lead to more deaths.

Hospitalizations and deaths typically lag infections by a few weeks, and the most recent forecast from Peter Graven, lead data scientist at Oregon Health & Science University, predicts hospitalizations will spike in the weeks ahead, reaching 1,200 in early February – around the same peak Oregon saw last fall with the Delta variant.

OHA releases new COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough report

OHA’s most recent update on COVID-19 breakthrough cases, released Thursday, reported 6,993 cases of COVID-19 during the week of Dec.19 to Dec. 25.

Of those cases, 4,426, or 63.3% were unvaccinated people and 2,567 or 36.7% were vaccine breakthrough cases.

The average age of the breakthrough cases during that period was 36. Fifteen breakthrough cases involved residents of care facilities, senior living communities or other congregate care settings. There were 137 cases in people aged 12 to 17.

To date, there have been 53,604 COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases in Oregon. The average age of all cases is 46. 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 currently three times higher than in vaccinated people.

To date, 4.3% of all vaccine breakthrough cases have been hospitalized and 1.2% 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," OHA said. "Oregonians are encouraged to get vaccinated and, if eligible, to get a booster shot."

The latest breakthrough report can be found here.

State continues march toward million-boosters goal

Oregon continues to move closer to meeting Gov. Kate Brown’s goal, announced Dec. 17, of getting 1 million more people in the state a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of January.

As of Thursday, 819,488 more people in Oregon need to get a booster to reach the goal and make our state safer from the Omicron variant. Find a booster here.

Since the challenge began, an additional 180,512 Oregonians have received a booster.

COVID-19 hospitalizations

The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 440, which is 21 more than Wednesday. There are 93 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is one more than Wednesday.

There are 50 available adult ICU beds out of 650 total (8% availability) and 265 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,128 (6% availability).

12/30/2021 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	50(8%)	16(5%)	5(6%)	8(9%)	3(5%)	4(40%)	6(14%)	8(31%)
Adult non-ICU beds available	265(6%)	44(2%)	11(2%)	58(10%)	37(8%)	5(10%)	57(14%)	53(46%)

Statewide regions are as follows:

Region 1: Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Multnomah, Tillamook and Washington counties

Region 2: Benton, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties

Region 3: Coos, Curry, Douglas and Lane counties

Region 5: Jackson and Josephine counties

Region 6: Hood River, Gilliam, Sherman and Wasco counties

Region 7: Crook, Deschutes, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake and Wheeler counties

Region 9: Baker, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, Union and Wallowa counties

St. Charles Bend reported 24 COVID-19-positive patients as of early Thursday, three of whom were in the ICU, all on ventilators. None of the ICU patients were fully vaccinated, the hospital reported, while 23 of the 24 COVID-19-positive patients were not fully vaccinated.

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 11,777 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry Wednesday. Of that total, 1,925 were initial doses, 1,511 were second doses, and 8,245 were third doses and booster doses. The remaining 8,647 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry Wednesday.

The seven-day running average is now 13,136 doses per day.

Oregon has now administered 3,799,096 doses of Pfizer Comirnaty, 163,941 doses of Pfizer Pediatric, 2,501,486 doses of Moderna and 255,954 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.

As of Thursday, 3,048,627 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 2,766,755 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.

Cases and deaths

The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Thursday are in the following counties: Baker (4), Benton (61), Clackamas (269), Clatsop (12), Columbia (15), Coos (39), Crook (26), Curry (11), Deschutes (286), Douglas (57), Gilliam (1), Grant (9), Harney (2), Hood River (19), Jackson (185), Jefferson (12), Josephine (48), Klamath (35), Lake (2), Lane (244), Lincoln (37), Linn (75), Malheur (24), Marion (148), Morrow (6), Multnomah (641), Polk (39), Sherman (3), Tillamook (15), Umatilla (121), Union (11), Wallowa (5), Wasco (10), Washington (418) and Yamhill (58).

Oregon’s 5,641st COVID-19 related death is a 60-year-old man from Clackamas County who tested positive Sept. 7 and died Nov. 18 at Providence Portland Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 5,642nd COVID-19 related death is a 68-year-old man from Jackson County who tested positive Dec. 12 and died Dec. 28 at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 5,643rd COVID-19 related death is a 52-year-old man from Coos County who tested positive Nov. 26 and died Dec. 19 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 5,644th COVID-19 related death is a 93-year-old woman from Clatsop County who tested positive Dec. 20 and died Dec. 27. Place of death and presence of underlying conditions are being confirmed.

Oregon’s 5,645th COVID-19 related death is an 84-year-old woman from Coos County who tested positive Nov. 21. Date of death and place of death are being confirmed. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 5,646th COVID-19 related death is a 48-year-old man from Clackamas County who tested positive Nov. 8 and died Dec. 26 at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 5,647th COVID-19 related death is a 78-year-old woman from Coos County who tested positive Dec. 15 and died Dec. 24 at OHSU. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 5,648th COVID-19 related death is a 97-year-old woman from Lane County who tested positive Dec. 26 and died Dec. 27 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend.

Oregon’s 5,649th COVID-19 related death is a 61-year-old man from Tillamook County who tested positive Dec. 29 and died Dec. 29. Place of death is being confirmed. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 5,650th COVID-19 related death is a 63-year-old man from Klamath County who tested positive Dec. 20 and died Dec. 28 at Sky Lakes Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 5,651st COVID-19 related death is a 58-year-old man from Marion County who tested positive Nov. 27 and died Dec. 12. Place of death and presence of underlying conditions are being confirmed.

Oregon’s 5,652nd COVID-19 related death is a 94-year-old woman from Washington County who tested positive Dec. 23 and died Dec. 28 at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 5,653rd COVID-19 related death is a 62-year-old woman from Washington County who tested positive Dec. 1 and died Dec. 12 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 5,654th COVID-19 related death is a 74-year-old man from Union County who tested positive Dec. 12 and died Dec. 28 at Grande Ronde Hospital. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 5,655th COVID-19 related death is a 63-year-old man from Klamath County who tested positive Dec. 16 and died Dec. 29 at Providence Medford Medical Center. 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.