Oregon COVID-19 biweekly report shows rise in cases, hospitalizations and deaths

The COVID-19 Biweekly Data Report, released Thursday, shows an increase COVID-19-related cases, hospitalizations and deaths since the previous biweekly period.

Oregon Health Authority reported 22,845 new cases of COVID-19 from May 16-29, a 24% increase over the previous biweekly total of 18,447.

There were 549 new COVID-19-related hospitalizations during the biweekly period, more than double from the 208 reported during the previous two-week period.

“The increases we are seeing with COVID-19 cases statewide confirm that the virus is still widespread through Oregon, even though many of us are ready to move on,” said Dr. Paul Cieslak, medical director for communicable diseases and immunizations at OHA. “With our health care partners, we continue to monitor hospitalization numbers that are rising gradually. We anticipate, based on the latest modeling, that hospitalizations will peak around the second week of June and then start to come down.”

There were 58 COVID-19-related deaths, up from the 50 reported during the previous two weeks.

During the two-week period of May 15-28, 196,549 tests for COVID-19 were reported to OHA; of those, 12.1% were positive — up from the 10.5% positivity rate reported during the previous two-week period.

“Being up to date with your vaccinations and boosters is still your best way to prevent serious disease,” added Cieslak. “Persons who are at higher risk should make a plan for getting tested and treated quickly should they develop COVID-19 symptoms despite vaccination. Paxlovid and other treatments are now widely available in Oregon with a doctor’s prescription or through test-to-treat sites.”

Today’s COVID-19 Biweekly Outbreak Report shows 153 active outbreaks in care facilities, senior living communities and congregate care living settings with three or more confirmed COVID-19 cases or one or more COVID-19-related deaths.

OHA updates COVID-19 Data Reports

OHA has identified a discrepancy in its labeling of age groups in tables and charts published in the COVID-19 Data Reports. The age group labels in the Data Reports indicate ages 0-9 and 10-19, but the case counts are from people ages 0-10 and 11-19. Information on the COVID-19 dashboards was not affected.

The error started in late 2020, when OHA transitioned from manually creating the reports to an automated process. OHA identified the scripting error in late May of this year.

OHA will update all affected archived Data Reports, in both English and Spanish, with statements noting that data labels for the age groups should be for ages 0-10 and 11-19, and include a link to the dashboards for up-to-date information. OHA also will update its 2020 Annual COVID-19 Data Report to incorporate these changes.

Age groups and case counts in this week’s and all future Data Reports will align with OHA’s Case Demographics, Hospitalizations and Deaths dashboards. OHA also has updated its quality control processes to provide additional levels of review for all reports.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective at protecting people from getting seriously ill, being hospitalized and dying, OHA said. Because the protection provided by COVID-19 vaccines decreases over time, especially among certain groups, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone ages 5 years and older stay up to date with their vaccines, including getting boosters when they are eligible. For more information on where to get a vaccine or your booster dose in Oregon, click here. 

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