(Update: 10 of newly reported deaths from C. Oregon; weekly report shows cases rise, deaths, hospitalizations decline)
PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — There are 64 newly reported COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 4,469, the Oregon Health Authority said Wednesday as it works to clear more than 500 earlier deaths not initially reported due to a computer issue.
Central Oregon health departments said the newly reported deaths included 10 from the region — eight from Deschutes County, where the toll has reached 136, and two from Jefferson County, bringing its total to 60 deaths.
OHA also reported 1,128 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 369,815.
Reminder: State health officials to add more than 500 COVID-19 deaths due to technical error
Over the coming weeks, OHA will report approximately 550 deaths among people who died with COVID-19, but whose deaths only became recently known to state epidemiologists due to a technical computer error.
This will result in higher death totals as the backlog is resolved.
More details can be found here.
Link to Wednesday’s Oregon Health Authority media availability
Wednesday afternoon, Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state epidemiologist, and Dr. Kristen Dillon, senior advisor with Oregon Health Authority’s COVID Response and Recovery Unit, answered media questions concerning the newly authorized vaccine for children ages five through 11.
Watch the video to see what they had to say.
COVID-19 weekly cases increase, deaths and hospitalizations decline
Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released Wednesday, shows an increase in daily cases and decreases in hospitalizations and deaths.
OHA reported 7,877 new cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, Oct. 25 through Sunday, Oct. 31. That represents a 2.2% increase from the previous week and the first increase after eight consecutive weeks of declining counts.
The incidence of reported COVID-19 cases was higher in Oregon counties with population vaccination rates less than 50%.
There were 313 new COVID-19 hospitalizations, down from 415 last week, marking the lowest number of hospitalizations since the week of July 26 – Aug. 1.
There were 82 reported COVID-19 related deaths, down from 110 reported the previous week.
There were 130,325 tests for COVID-19 for the week of Oct. 24 through Oct. 30. The percentage of positive tests was 7.4%, unchanged from the previous week.
Wednesday’s COVID-19 Weekly Outbreak Report shows 87 active COVID-19 outbreaks in senior living communities and congregate living settings, with three or more confirmed cases and one or more COVID-19 related deaths.
COVID-19 hospitalizations
The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 527, which is 10 fewer than Tuesday. There are 116 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which means there has been no change from Tuesday.
There are 53 available adult ICU beds out of 686 total (8% availability) and 255 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,127 (6% availability).
| 11/3/2021 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 | 53(8%) | 22(6%) | 5(6%) | 12(13%) | 2(3%) | 1(10%) | 4(8%) | 7(27%) |
| Adult non-ICU beds available | 255(6%) | 30(2%) | 17(3%) | 92(16%) | 27(6%) | 1(2%) | 36(9%) | 52(45%) |
St. Charles Bend reported 64 COVID-19 patients as of early Wednesday, five of whom were in the ICU, with four on ventilators. None of the five ICU patients were fully vaccinated, the hospital said, while 46 of the 64 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 Wednesday that 17,000 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry on Tuesday. Of that total, 1,115 were initial doses, 815 were second doses and 8,000 were third doses and booster doses. The remaining 7,013 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on Tuesday.
The seven-day running average is now 17,000 doses per day.
Oregon has now administered 3,317,989 doses of Pfizer Comirnaty, 2,030,215 doses of Moderna and 229,962 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.
As of Wednesday, 2,824,604 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 2,618,574 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 Wednesday.
Cases and COVID-19 deaths
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported Wednesday are in the following counties: Baker (6), Benton (18), Clackamas (87), Clatsop (5), Columbia (13), Coos (26), Crook (13), Curry (5), Deschutes (113), Douglas (42), Gilliam (1), Grant (5), Hood River (5), Jackson (77), Jefferson (26), Josephine (39), Klamath (22), Lake (5), Lane (42), Lincoln (15), Linn (68), Malheur (18), Marion (91), Morrow (1), Multnomah (131), Polk (38),Tillamook (10), Umatilla (30), Union (3), Wallowa (3), Wasco (11), Washington (128) and Yamhill (31).
Note: More information about the cases and deaths will be provided in an updated news release.
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.