The Oregon Health Authority announced 224 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday along with one new death, bringing the state’s coronavirus death toll to 2,363.
The number of new cases is fewer than the average reported in recent days, though reporting delays often result in lower case counts on weekends. Daily new-case counts have steadily declined since mid-January, when the state was regularly reporting more than 1,000 new cases daily.
Sunday’s numbers come as Oregon prepares to mark one year since Gov. Kate Brown first ordered residents to stay home, shutting down some businesses and imposing restrictions on others to slow the spread of COVID-19.
That set off one of most dramatic economic downturns in state history. It also exposed deep economic disparities, as some low-wage workers deemed “essential” continued to face potential exposure and others faced sudden unemployment. Lowest-income workers were hit hardest, while many moderate- and high-income workers were able to simply continue working from home.
Businesses have endured an unprecedented year, facing not only a pandemic but also civil unrest, wildfires and power outages from a massive ice storm.
Some businesses collapsed under the repeated hits. Even so, business failures weren’t as widespread as expected. Some even thrived, and formations of new businesses actually climbed.
COVID-19 has had a vastly smaller impact on the health of people in the Portland area, which saw far fewer deaths per capita than the nation as a whole. Portland economists this year attributed that finding to residents’ careful adherence to safety measures.
Where the new cases are by county: Baker (1), Benton (8), Clackamas (21), Columbia (6), Coos (6), Deschutes (11), Douglas (8), Grant (3), Jackson (12), Jefferson (1), Josephine (13), Lake (1), Lane (8), Linn (12), Marion (38), Multnomah (28), Polk (4), Union (2), Washington (40) and Yamhill (1).
Who died: Oregon’s 2,363rd COVID-19 death is an 80-year-old Grant County woman who tested positive on March 12 and died Friday at St. Charles Bend Hospital. She had unspecified underlying health conditions, according to the Oregon Health Authority.
The prevalence of infections: On Sunday, the state reported 308 new positive tests out of 10,526 tests performed, equaling a 2.9% positivity rate.
Who’s in the hospital: The state reported 112 Oregonians with confirmed coronavirus infections were hospitalized Sunday, six more than Saturday. Of those, 22 coronavirus patients were in intensive care units, four fewer than Saturday.
Vaccines administered: Oregon has administered 1,509,386 first and second doses out of 1,858,385 received, which is about 81% of its supply. Oregon reported 22,232 newly administered doses, which includes 14,149 on Saturday and the remainder from previous days.
Since it began: Oregon has reported 161,531 confirmed or presumed infections and 2,363 deaths, among the lowest per capita numbers in the nation. To date, the state has reported over 4,066,061 lab reports from tests.
— The Oregonian/OregonLive