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December 20, 2021

Contact: OHA External Relations, orcovid19.media@dhsoha.state.or.us

Oregon reports 1,941 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 3 new deaths

PORTLAND, Ore. — There are three new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 5,534, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported at 12:01 a.m. today.

OHA reported 1,941 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 407,153.

The three new deaths and 1,941 new cases reported today include data recorded by counties for the three-day period between Dec. 17 and Dec. 19.

OHA updates COVID-19 vaccination data for rarest race and ethnicity

Starting Tuesday, OHA’s COVID-19 Vaccination Metrics dashboard will include more precise population estimates for race and ethnicity data at the state and county level.

The more granular data updates follow more than six months of collaboration between OHA’s data and equity analysts and demographers at the Portland State University’s Population Research Center. The center produces the official data used for Oregon population estimates.

The change will provide local public health officials across Oregon with more precise information about vaccination rates among racial and ethnic groups to help county health officials customize their efforts to increase vaccinations. Previously, county health officials had to rely on regional data.

“This is good news for our local public health providers who have been seeking more precise county information as they work with community partners, Tribal health clinics and health providers to reach those groups who are lagging behind other residents with vaccinations,” said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, state epidemiologist and health officer.

“We want to make sure they have as much accurate information as they need about their communities to make smart decisions to increase their vaccination efforts. The more people we can protect, by reaching them through trusted partners and in the right languages, the less likely our most impacted residents will develop serious illness or hospitalization.”

Before the change, OHA used data from the U.S Census’ 2015-2019 American Community Survey (ACS) Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS) to estimate populations by rarest race and ethnicity. However, the detailed demographic data necessary for these calculations could only provide data about areas with 100,000 or more persons, resulting in most counties having only regional estimates available.

The new estimates leveraged additional information on the spatial distribution of the population by race and ethnicity within each region to downscale regional estimates to the county level. Previously, only eight counties could be observed from the original ACS data source. With the new release, all of Oregon’s 36 counties have individualized data to track vaccination rates and other key indicators.

For example, the vaccination rate for adult residents who identity as Hispanic/Latino/a/x in the region including Columbia, Lincoln, Clatsop and Tillamook counties was previously 50.4%. After the change to more precise county data provided by the Population Resource Center, the dashboard will show the vaccination rate of residents who identify as Hispanic/Latino/a/x as 54.4% in Clatsop, 43.4% in Columbia, 57.5% in Lincoln and 47.2% in Tillamook.

Before the change, Hood River County was grouped with eight other counties, showing a regional vaccination rate for adults of 53.2% for Black/African American persons and 57.8% for Hispanic/Latina/o/x persons. After the change to more precise county data provided by PSU, the vaccination rates in Hood River County are more than 80% for both groups.

Generally, vaccination rates for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander persons decreased after population estimates increased. For other racial and ethnic groups, there are increases and decreases in the population estimates and vaccination rates based on the new data.

COVID-19 hospitalizations

The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 352, which is 11 fewer than yesterday. There are 101 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is unchanged from yesterday.

There are 82 available adult ICU beds out of 663 total (12% availability) and 288 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,137 (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.

More information about hospital capacity can be found here.

Vaccinations in Oregon

Today, OHA reported that 11,340 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry Dec. 19. Of that total, 571 were initial doses, 341 were second doses and 3,637 were third doses and booster doses. The remaining 6,771 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry Dec. 19.

The seven-day running average is now 19,569 doses per day.

Oregon has now administered 3,716,356 doses of Pfizer Comirnaty, 147,955 doses of Pfizer pediatric, 2,434,917 doses of Moderna and 252,934 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.

As of today, 3,019,934 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 2,745,825 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.

Cases and deaths

The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (9), Benton (41), Clackamas (212), Clatsop (21), Columbia (27), Coos (37), Crook (3), Curry (4), Deschutes (161), Douglas (57), Gilliam (1), Harney (2), Hood River (6), Jackson (106), Jefferson (15), Josephine (60), Klamath (13), Lane (140), Lincoln (16), Linn (110), Malheur (2), Marion (123), Morrow (2), Multnomah (390), Polk (17), Sherman (1), Tillamook (29), Umatilla (10), Union (1), Wasco (6), Washington (266) and Yamhill (53).

Oregon reports 833 confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases on Dec. 17, 632 confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases on Dec. 18 and 476 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases on Dec. 19.

Oregon’s 5,532nd COVID-19 related death is a 95-year-old woman from Umatilla County who tested positive Nov. 9 and died Dec. 14 at her residence. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 5,533rd COVID-19 related death is a 91-year-old woman from Klamath County who tested positive Dec. 5 and died Dec. 11 at Sky Lakes Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 5,534th COVID-19 related death is a 47-year-old woman from Jackson County who tested positive Dec. 4 and died Dec. 9 at her residence. She had underlying conditions.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations  

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.

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