The number of Salem-area Covid cases and hospitalizations continued to fall in the past week.
HOSPITAL CAPACITY
The average number of Covid patients at Salem Hospital and in the mid-Willamette region have declined compared to last week.
As of Friday, Aug. 19, the hospital had 15 inpatients with Covid, three in the ICU and two on a ventilator.
There were 374 of 415 adult acute and critical care beds in use, and 453 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 ranged between 15 and 33. Last week, Wood said the daily number was between 25 and 35 Covid inpatients.
Region 2, which is Marion, Polk, Yamhill, Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties, had 41 people hospitalized with Covid as of Aug. 17, compared with 53 the week prior and 61 two weeks ago.
CASES
The number of new Covid cases reported decreased both statewide and in Marion and Polk counties. This data is for the week ending Aug. 17.
Marion County: 74.9 new Covid cases per day on average, a rate of 150.9 cases per 100,000 residents.
That’s down from 86.9 average daily cases for the week ending Aug. 10 and 93.9 average daily cases for the week ending Aug. 3.
15.1% of Covid tests this week were positive, up from 11.2% last week.
Polk County: 13.4 new Covid cases per day on average, a rate of 105.7 cases per 100,000 residents.
That’s down from an average of 18.6 daily cases the week ending Aug. 10 and 23.7 daily cases the week ending Aug. 3.
14% of Covid tests this week were positive, up from 8.3% last week.
Oregon: 819 new cases per day on average, down from 939.6 average daily cases the week prior; 11% of tests positive, compared with 11.4% the week prior.
VACCINATION AND BREAKTHROUGH CASES
The Oregon Health Authority switched to a monthly report on breakthrough cases and will release its next report 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!
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.
