Weekly COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths rise

The Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released today, shows an increase in daily cases, hospitalizations and COVID-19 related deaths.

OHA reported 2,026 new daily cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, July 12, through Sunday, July 18. That represents a 54% rise over the previous week and the highest tally in seven weeks.

New COVID-19 related hospitalizations rose to 123, up from 104 the previous week.

There were 29 reported COVID-19 related deaths, up from 15 reported the previous week.

There were 62,098 tests for COVID-19 for the week of July 11 through July 17. The percentage of positive tests was 4.2%, up from 3.4% the previous week.

As of July 20, 2,452,035 Oregonians — 57.5% of the state’s total population — had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Case rates have generally been higher in counties with lower COVID-19 vaccination rates. During the week of July 11–17, case rates in 15 counties exceeded the statewide average of 44.9 cases per 100,000 population. All 15 counties had overall population COVID-19 vaccination rates of lower than 55%, and 13 of them had rates lower than 47%.

Today’s COVID-19 Weekly Outbreak Report shows 21 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.

OHA makes improvements to Kindergarten-12th Grade School COVID-19 report

OHA is improving the way it publishes data on COVID-19 cases associated with schools that offer in-person instruction. The changes will provide clear and transparent data to inform the public of potential COVID-19 exposure in Oregon’s schools.

Starting today, OHA will revise the Weekly Outbreak Report to provide three tables with Kindergarten-12th grade school associated case and outbreak information. OHA will now report recent student, staff and volunteer cases in addition to schools with active and resolved outbreaks.

Cases will be reported if they worked or attended school (either for class or other activities like a sports practice) during their exposure or infectious period.

OHA will no longer include these cases as cumulative case counts. A school may appear in more than one table as the case and outbreak tables record different information.