The number of Covid cases in Marion County remained flat this past week but increased again in Polk County. Meanwhile, local hospitalizations are up slightly.
HOSPITAL CAPACITY
The average number of Covid patients at Salem Hospital and throughout the mid-Willamette region increased slightly compared to last week.
As of Thursday, Sept. 8, the hospital had 22 inpatients with Covid, one in the ICU and one on a ventilator.
There were 373 of 415 adult acute and critical care beds in use, and 452 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 14 and 23. Last week, Wood said the daily number was between 14 and 19 Covid inpatients.
Region 2, which is Marion, Polk, Yamhill, Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties, had 29 people hospitalized with Covid as of Sept. 7, compared with 26 the week prior and 40 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 Sept. 7.
Marion County: 45.1 new Covid cases per day on average, a rate of 86.4 cases per 100,000 residents.
That’s down from 46.9 average daily cases for the week ending Aug. 31 and 62.1 average daily cases for the week ending Aug. 24.
8.7% of Covid tests this week were positive, down from 11.4% last week.
Polk County: 16.1 new Covid cases per day on average, a rate of 105.7 cases per 100,000 residents.
That’s up from an average of 13.4 daily cases the week ending Aug. 31 and 11.9 daily cases the week ending Aug. 24.
9% of Covid tests this week were positive, down from 12.4% last week.
Oregon: 582.4 new cases per day on average, up from 561.4 average daily cases the week prior; 7.2% of tests positive, compared with 8.7% the week prior.
VACCINATION AND BREAKTHROUGH CASES
The Oregon Health Authority announced Wednesday it is replacing its monthly report on breakthrough cases with a new data dashboard showing trends in cases, hospitalizations and deaths by vaccination status. Data is updated on the second Wednesday of each month.
The new graph shows data for Oregonians vaccinated as recommended, meaning those who have received a booster shot, or two boosters if over age 50, compared with Oregonians who have not been vaccinated against Covid.
Data shows locally and statewide, unvaccinated Oregonians remain more likely to get Covid, to be hospitalized with an infection and to die from Covid.
Among unvaccinated adults in Marion County, there were 257 Covid cases per 100,000 residents reported to the Oregon Health Authority during the week of Aug. 21. There were 116 cases per 100,000 residents among fully vaccinated adults.
In Polk County that week, there were 139 cases per 100,000 residents among unvaccinated adults, and 90 among fully vaccinated adults.
Statewide data showed 285 Covid cases per 100,000 residents among unvaccinated adults, with 103 among fully vaccinated adults the week of Aug. 21.
Since Feb. 1, 2021, the death rate from Covid for Oregonians has been 13 deaths per 100,000 people among unvaccinated Oregonians, versus 2 deaths per 100,000 people among Oregonians vaccinated as recommended.
The health authority will next update its data dashboard on Oct. 12.
MANDATES
Oregon’s mask mandate lifted on March 11 at 11:59 p.m.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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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.
