Starting March 12, 2022, contact tracing and quarantine will be paused for the general population in Oregon, including in K-12 and early learning settings. These measures will still be recommended in high-risk settings, including health care settings, jails and prisons, and shelters. Read on for details.
Today, state health officer and epidemiologist Dean Sidelinger was joined by Colt Gill, director of Oregon Department of Education, to present the new guidelines and take questions from the media. A video recording of the press conference can be watched here.
OHA reported 5,337 new cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, Feb. 21 through Sunday, Feb. 28 – a 43% decline from the previous week, and a 90% drop from the peak case level Oregon experienced the week of Jan. 17 through Jan 23.
During the week of Feb. 21 through Feb. 28, there were 438 COVID-19-related hospitalizations, a 31% decrease over the previous week. COVID-19-related deaths increased to 137 from 111 the previous week.
Reported COVID-19 test results dropped 13%. There were 113,657 tests administered. Test positivity dropped to 6.4%.
The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 424, which is 36 fewer than yesterday. There are 71 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is three fewer than yesterday.
There are 99 available adult ICU beds out of 655 total (15% availability) and 319 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,270 (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 6,044 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry March 1. Of that total, 455 were initial doses, 516 were second doses and 1,218 were third doses and booster doses. The remaining 3,707 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry March 1.
The seven-day running average is now 3,649 doses per day.
Oregon has now administered 4,149,502 doses of Pfizer Comirnaty, 235,132 doses of Pfizer pediatric, 2,716,961 doses of Moderna and 268,720 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.
As of today, 3,160,879 people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 2,866,217 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
There are four new COVID-19-related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 6,652, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported at 12:01 a.m. today.
OHA reported 696 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 695,323.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (3), Benton (25), Clackamas (54), Clatsop (3), Columbia (10), Coos (10), Crook (10), Curry (2), Deschutes (25), Douglas (19), Gilliam (1), Harney (1), Hood River (12), Jackson (59), Jefferson (2), Josephine (26), Klamath (12), Lake (1), Lane (77), Lincoln (5), Linn (44), Marion (40), Morrow (2), Multnomah (121), Polk (8), Tillamook (2), Umatilla (18), Union (1), Wasco (4), Washington (89) and Yamhill (10).
Note: Due to delayed reporting, approximately 1,500 backlogged negative test results were received for Deschutes County on March 1, 2022. Results were from December 15, 2021, to March 1, 2022. As a result, test counts are higher than anticipated and percent positivity is lower than anticipated for March 1.
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.
Oregon to pause quarantining March 12 as cases and hospitalizations drop
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