April 20, 2022
Contact: OHA External Relations, orcovid19.media@dhsoha.state.or.us
Today kicked off the first Oregon Health Authority (OHA) monthly media availability providing updates on COVID-19 in Oregon.
Tom Jeanne, M.D., M.P.H., deputy state health officer and deputy state epidemiologist, OHA Public Health Division, and Paul Cieslak, M.D., medical director for communicable diseases and immunizations, answered reporters’ questions and gave an update on the state’s ongoing management of COVID-19.
Here are the talking points from today’s media availability. You can also watch it here.
OHA releases biweekly COVID-19 reports
The COVID-19 Biweekly Data Report, released today, shows an increase in cases and deaths and a slight decrease in disease-related hospitalizations over the previous biweekly period.
OHA reported 5,980 new cases of COVID-19 during the weeks of April 4 to April 17, a 76% increase over the previous biweekly total.
There were 202 COVID-19-related hospitalizations during the biweekly period, a drop from the 245 reported over the previous two weeks.
There were 241 COVID-19-related deaths, up slightly from the 239 reported during the prior two weeks.
There were 145,100 tests administered during the weeks of April 3 to April 16, with a test positivity rate of 3.6%.
Today’s COVID-19 Biweekly Outbreak Report shows 31 total active outbreaks in care facilities, senior living communities and congregate living settings with three or more confirmed COVID-19 cases or one or more COVID-19-related deaths.
Note: this marks the first time both reports are being published on a biweekly basis, consistent with the new reporting schedule shared last month.
COVID-19 Case and Vaccination Stories dashboard update
Oregon’s COVID-19 Case and Vaccination Stories dashboard has been updated with new data and information that covers the Omicron surge of the COVID-19 pandemic. A county filter has also been added to the following visualizations: vaccination rate and case rate over time, vaccination rate and hospitalization rate over time, vaccination rate and death rate over time, vaccination rate and number of hospitalizations over time, and vaccination rate and number of deaths over time.
The COVID-19 Case and Vaccination Stories dashboard reviews the past case surges and events of the pandemic to analyze and provide insights for the future. The updated dashboard compares the surges of fall 2020, spring 2021, summer 2021 (Delta) and winter 2021-2022 (Omicron) by looking at the peaks of case rates, hospitalization rates and death rates.
The visualizations also examine the effects of increasing vaccination rates on decreasing case, hospitalization and death rates by comparing between people under 65 years of age and those 65 years and older. The comparison illustrates the effects of the vaccine being available to older adults earlier than it was for most younger people—leading to higher vaccination rates among older residents.
Throughout the pandemic, higher vaccination rates have been associated with lower case rates, as seen in the comparison of case rates across surges between people 65 years of age and older (90% vaccinated) and people under 65 years of age (71% vaccinated).
The Omicron surge during winter 2021 also demonstrated the importance of boosters. Compared with the Delta variant, fewer people who were infected with Omicron experienced severe disease. However, because Omicron spread to more people in Oregon in a shorter amount of time when boosters were not yet widely available, there was another surge of hospitalizations that strained the Oregon health care system.
Vaccines remain the most effective tool in slowing the spread of COVID-19. For more information on where to get a vaccine or your booster dose in Oregon, click here.
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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