Jan. 27, 2021
We wanted to let you know about a change to how we are reporting our daily COVID-19 news. Starting today, the Oregon Health Authority will no longer list individual cases of COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon in its daily media releases.
Since the first COVID-19 related death was reported in Oregon by OHA on March 14, 2020, we have listed each of the individuals by county of residence, date of death, date of positive test or symptom onset and reported if the individuals had underlying conditions. Those updates have been provided daily since that date.
“Every death from COVID-19 represents a loss, especially for those who knew them best — families, friends and loved ones,” said OHA Director Patrick Allen. “That is why we have listed each case. Moving forward, we will share aggregated COVID-19 related deaths on OHA’s public dashboards, which are updated daily. As the death toll from the virus has climbed, validating and reporting each death has had an impact on our daily reporting. We will continue to honor the lives of each person lost to the pandemic, but in a different way. The dashboard will provide additional information on COVID-19 related deaths that have not been accessible in a visual format before — including data on trends, underlying conditions and residence setting. This dashboard offers the public a clearer picture of the collective toll the virus has taken. But it will never detract from the importance of each Oregonian who is no longer with us.”
Oregon’s ongoing response to COVID-19 has been among the most effective nationally, as measured in preventing the loss of life through statewide measures. Oregon has outperformed nearly all other states in containing the COVID-19 virus and preventing COVID-19 deaths. As of Jan. 27, the state ranks fifth lowest in deaths per 100,000 persons in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
These outcomes follow our measures that have prevented community spread of the virus and that have encouraged Oregonians to wear masks, observe six feet of physical distance, wash hands regularly, avoid gatherings and stay home when ill.
“To protect my family, patients, and people around me” was why Joanna De Matias got her vaccine at her clinic along with her coworkers. The only side effect she felt was a sore arm an hour after getting the shot. She said, “I feel great otherwise!”
Ms. De Matias shared: “I’m a community health nurse for Multnomah County and I’ve been doing COVID testing almost every day for about six months now. I’ve seen many patients struggle with the symptoms.”
“I understand the anxiety that getting a brand new vaccine brings. I had my doubts too. However, I believe in the science of vaccinations and did my research on the vaccine with reputable sources. The pros definitely outweigh the cons. I urge everyone to get the correct facts and do your research with credible resources, not something you came across on Facebook or conspiracy theories. Talk to your doctor about your concerns.”
“Oregon has learned a lot in five weeks, OHA Director Patrick Allen wrote in The Oregonian this week. “We’ve made some mistakes, but we’ve adapted quickly. And while we intend to keep outpacing most other states, we won’t leave any Oregonian behind for the sake of speed alone.”
In the opinion column, Director Allen addresses how the state is doing at getting people vaccinated, vaccine sequencing, and what OHA has done to keep equity central in the process.
OHA’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released today, showed sharp declines in daily cases, hospitalizations and deaths over the previous week. Here are some key findings:
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OHA reported 4,119 new daily cases during the week of Monday, Jan. 18 through Sunday, Jan. 24, a 48% decrease from the previous week.
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There were 229 people hospitalized for COVID-19, a 33% decline from the previous week. COVID-19 deaths also fell dramatically to 74 from last week’s pandemic high of 195.
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There were 116,099 tests for COVID-19 for the week of Jan. 17 through Jan. 23. The percentage of positive tests dropped to 5.1%.
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People age 20 to 49 have accounted for 54% of COVID-19 cases, while people 70 and older have accounted for 77% of deaths associated with the virus.
Today’s COVID-19 Outbreak Report shows 178 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.
There are 20 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 1,924, the Oregon Health Authority reported at 12:01 a.m. today.
OHA also reported 731 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 140,063.
Vaccinations in Oregon: Today, OHA reported that 14,896 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry. Of this total, 10,943 doses were administered on Jan. 26 and 3,953 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on Jan. 26.
Cumulative daily totals can take several days to finalize because providers have 72 hours to report doses administered and technical challenges have caused many providers to lag in their reporting. OHA has been providing technical support to vaccination sites to improve the timeliness of their data entry into the state’s ALERT Immunization Information System (IIS).
Oregon has now administered a cumulative total of 340,369 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines. To date, 600,875 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon.
These data are preliminary and subject to change. OHA's dashboards provide regularly updated vaccination data, and Oregon’s dashboard has been updated today.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (4), Benton (8), Clackamas (67), Clatsop (4), Columbia (8), Coos (9), Crook (7), Deschutes (24), Douglas (9), Harney (1), Hood River (5), Jackson (35), Jefferson (7), Josephine (16), Klamath (13), Lake (2), Lane (52), Lincoln (3), Linn (21), Malheur (17), Marion (115), Morrow (5), Multnomah (118), Polk (21), Tillamook (1), Umatilla (30), Union (3), Wasco (2), Washington (106) and Yamhill (18).
COVID-19 hospitalizations: The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 302, which is six fewer than yesterday. There are 74 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU beds) which is four more than yesterday. 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. More information about hospital capacity can be found here.
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations
To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine situation in Oregon, visit our webpage, which has a breakdown of distribution and other useful information.
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