Nov. 4, 2021
If you have a student in an Oregon school, you may have received messages about COVID-19 cases in their school. If a child in your home was exposed to someone who tested positive, they likely had to resume their studies from your kitchen table for several days.
In our ongoing series about the layered health and safety measures that Oregon schools have implemented in an effort to keep schools open for in-person instruction this school year, let’s take a look at isolation and quarantine.
Isolation and quarantine: What’s the difference?
Both isolation and quarantine reduce the risk of accidentally spreading the virus to other people.
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Isolation means keeping someone infected with COVID-19 away from other people as much as possible.
- If your student tests positive for COVID-19 at school, they would be isolated from other students until they could safely go home for quarantine.
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Quarantine means keeping someone who may have been exposed to COVID-19 at home.
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If your student had close contact with someone who has COVID-19, the school and local public health authority may recommend quarantine.
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The student would stay home for 14 days (maybe less if recommended by the local public health authority), monitoring for symptoms.
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If they develop symptoms, they should isolate within the home for 10 days, starting from the day they first showed symptoms.
In response to a recent survey we published, here are a couple of concerns that were shared:
Jared from Pleasant Hill expressed concern about the side effects of the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine. He is particularly worried about myocarditis.
OHA: Children may have some side effects to the COVID-19 vaccine, which are normal signs that their body is building protection. These side effects should subside in a few days. Some people have no side effects and severe allergic reactions are rare.
A rare complication is myocarditis. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle and has been reported in a small number of cases after receiving an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. The risk of vaccine associated myocarditis in the 5 through 11 age group is thought to be lower than the risk noted in the older age groups. The group at highest risk of vaccine-associated myocarditis has been from the 2nd dose in males 16 to 17 years old, where it has been about one case out of every 14,500 people. The risk has been lower in males of other ages, and much lower in females. The risk of getting myocarditis from COVID-19 infection is much higher.
Jared also was concerned about the speed with which the COVID-19 vaccines were developed.
OHA: While this type of vaccine is new, the research and development on it has been . The process has included rigorous safety reviews required for all new vaccines. The pandemic created an urgency that resulted in greater access to funding and encouraged previously unseen levels of government and industry cooperation. These factors allowed scientists to build upon previous work on coronavirus vaccines and on mRNA technology to develop the vaccines safely and effectively.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) mRNA vaccines, such as Pfizer and Moderna, work differently than other types of vaccines, but they still trigger an immune response inside the body.
Several locally owned businesses in Portland are offering $50-100 gift cards while supplies last to people who received their first vaccine dose in August or later. People just need to show their vaccination card and download the Kuto app to receive a gift card.
“The strategy is to reach people through people who have influence,” said Sarah Shaoul, founder of Bricks Need Mortar. Sarah contacted businesses serving communities of color to be a part of the program, including:
Chris Yen, owner of Laundry PDX, believes the program is a nice way to support businesses and public health in Old Chinatown, a neighborhood he says has suffered a lot over the past couple years.
“It boils down to us trying to do our part and make a safer community for everyone,” said Keith Young, owner of Black Rose.
The gift cards are not only an incentive to get vaccinated, but they are also a stimulus for both the customer and the businesses.
“It’s win, win, win,” Sarah said.
 Laundry PDX in Old Chinatown sells sportswear from the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s.
OHA’s most recent update on COVID-19 breakthrough cases, released today, found that 75.4% of the 8,239 reported COVID-19 cases between Oct. 24 and Oct. 30 occurred in unvaccinated people.
There were 2,025 breakthrough cases, accounting for 24.6% of all cases.
The average age of the breakthrough cases during that period was 47. Fifty breakthrough cases involved residents of care facilities, senior living communities or other congregate care settings. There were 66 cases in people ages 12 to 17.
To date, there have been 37,539 COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases in Oregon. The average age of all cases is 48. Breakthrough cases have been reported in all 36 counties.
Cases of COVID-19 are far more common in unvaccinated people. The report shows that the rate of COVID-19 in unvaccinated people is four times higher than in vaccinated people.
To date, 4.4% of all vaccine breakthrough cases have been hospitalized and 1% have died. The average age of vaccinated people who died was 80.
Vaccination remains the most effective tool to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The number of vaccine breakthrough cases identified in Oregon remains very small when compared to the more than 2.8 million Oregonians who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
We want to keep you informed about COVID-19 in Oregon. Data are provisional and change frequently.
• Samples for 507,056 tests have been reported positive.
• Samples for 7,137,838 tests have been reported negative.
COVID-19 hospitalizations
The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 532, which is five more than yesterday. There are 123 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is seven more than yesterday.
There are 65 available adult ICU beds out of 688 total (9% availability) and 280 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,117 (7% availability).
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.
Today, OHA reported that 18,096 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry on Nov. 3. Of that total, 1,126 were initial doses, 840 were second doses and 9,798 were third doses and booster doses. The remaining 6,270 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on Nov. 3.
The seven-day running average is now 17,085 doses per day.
Oregon has now administered 3,323,667 doses of Pfizer Comirnaty, 2,039,930 doses of Moderna and 230,623 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.
As of today, 2,825,299 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 2,618,874 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 today.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Benton (11), Clackamas (120), Clatsop (5), Columbia (22), Coos (26), Crook (12), Curry (3), Deschutes (100), Douglas (52), Grant (3), Hood River (5), Jackson (61), Jefferson (15), Josephine (26), Klamath (38), Lake (4), Lane (79), Lincoln (10), Linn (55), Malheur (7), Marion (124), Morrow (3), Multnomah (140), Polk (28), Sherman (3), Tillamook (18), Umatilla (27), Union (4), Wallowa (8), Wasco (15), Washington (107), Wheeler (2) and Yamhill (78).
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 our webpage (English or Spanish), which has a breakdown of distribution and other information.
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