The number of Salem-area Covid hospitalizations are down compared to last week, while cases are up statewide and in Marion County.
HOSPITAL CAPACITY
The average number of Covid patients at Salem Hospital and in the mid-Willamette region are down compared to last week.
As of Friday, Aug. 5, the hospital had 26 inpatients with Covid, one in the ICU and one on a ventilator.
There were 389 of 415 adult acute and critical care beds in use, and 450 total hospital beds in use.
The hospital recently expanded its licensed bed capacity from 494 to 644 with the addition of a new tower, but that total includes every potential licensed bed at Salem Hospital including those dedicated to specific uses, like pediatrics, inpatient psychiatry, and labor and delivery.
Lisa Wood, Salem Health spokeswoman, said the number of hospitalized Covid patients over the past week has remained between 26 and 47. Last week, Wood said the daily number was between 34 and 42 Covid inpatients.
Region 2, which is Marion, Polk, Yamhill, Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties, had 61 people hospitalized with Covid as of Aug. 3, compared with 65 the week prior and 87 two weeks ago.
CASES
The number of new Covid cases reported increased both statewide and in Marion County, but declined in Polk County. This data is for the week ending Aug. 3.
Marion County: 93.9 new Covid cases per day on average, a rate of 189.2 cases per 100,000 residents.
That’s up from 83.7 average daily cases for the week ending July 27 and 114.6 average daily cases for the week ending July 20.
10.1% of Covid tests this week were positive, down from 10.9% last week.
Polk County: 23.7 new Covid cases per day on average, a rate of 186.7 cases per 100,000 residents.
That’s down from an average of 25 daily cases the week ending July 27 and 29.1 daily cases the week ending July 20.
16.3% of Covid tests this week were positive, up from 11.3% last week.
Oregon: 1,228.1 new cases per day on average, up from 1,132.4 average daily cases the week prior; 13.4% of tests positive, compared with 14.2% the week prior.
VACCINATION AND BREAKTHROUGH CASES
The Oregon Health Authority’s latest report on breakthrough cases was released Thursday.
During July, there were 40,013 Covid cases reported to the Oregon Health Authority. Of those, 18,622 or 46.5% were in unvaccinated people, 21,380 or 53.4% were vaccine breakthrough cases, and 11 people had an unknown vaccination status.
About 69% of all Oregonians are fully vaccinated against Covid, and 40% have received a booster vaccine, according to health authority data.
Of total vaccine breakthrough cases in July, 14,388 people or 67.3% were fully vaccinated and boosted. The median age of all vaccine breakthrough cases was 55.
Among breakthrough cases, 222 (1%) were residents of care facilities, senior living communities and other congregate living settings. There were 6,392 (29.9%) breakthrough cases in people 65 or older, 24.8% of the total.
There have been 292,802 total vaccine breakthrough cases identified in Oregon. Of those,
103,563 (35.4%) were fully vaccinated and boosted at the time of infection.
The rate of Covid infection among unvaccinated people in July was nearly three times the rate among those who were fully vaccinated, and more than twice the rate of those who were boosted, the report said.
The health authority’s next monthly report will be released in early September.
MANDATES
Oregon’s mask mandate lifted on March 11 at 11:59 p.m.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
JUST THE FACTS, FOR SALEM – We report on your community with care and depth, fairness and accuracy. Get local news that matters to you. Subscribe to Salem Reporter starting at $5 a month. Click I want to subscribe!
Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
