After the Thanksgiving holiday, the state and Marion County saw an increase in Covid cases while Polk County reported a slight decrease.
On Wednesday, Gov. Kate Brown issued an executive order aiming to provide more resources to health care facilities amid a sustained surge of Covid, flu and RSV cases. Salem Hospital is again diverting ambulances to other hospitals due to capacity issues, a temporary policy that has been reinstated 10 times since Thanksgiving.
HOSPITAL CAPACITY
As of Friday, Dec. 9, Salem Hospital had 22 inpatients with Covid.
Of those, three were in the ICU and one was on a ventilator.
388 of the 415 adult acute and critical care beds were in use, or 93%.
467 total hospital beds were in use on Friday. 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.
The daily number of hospitalized Covid patients has been between 21 and 26 patients over the past week, according to Lisa Wood, Salem Health spokeswoman. Last week, the number was between 22 and 30.
Region 2, which is Marion, Polk, Yamhill, Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties, had 44 people hospitalized with Covid as of Dec. 7 compared with 46 the week prior and 44 two weeks ago.
CASES
In the week ending Dec. 7, the average daily number of new Covid cases reported increased statewide and in Marion County, and decreased in Polk County compared to the week prior.
Marion County: 56 new Covid cases per day on average, a rate of 112.3 cases per 100,000 residents.
That’s up from 35 average daily cases last week.
7.4% of Covid tests this week were positive, down from 7.6% last week.
The Oregon Health Authority reported three newly identified deaths of county residents with Covid in the past week.
Polk County: 14 new Covid cases per day on average, a rate of 111.3 cases per 100,000 residents.
That’s slightly down from 15 average daily cases last week.
11.8% of Covid tests this week were positive, a decrease from 12.4% last week.
The Oregon Health Authority reported one newly identified death of county residents with Covid in the past week.
Oregon: 715 new cases per day on average, up from 465 average daily cases last week; 9.9% of tests were positive, compared with 6.8% last week.
VACCINATION AND BREAKTHROUGH CASES
The Oregon Health Authority has a data dashboard showing trends in cases, hospitalizations and deaths by vaccination status, updated on the second Wednesday of each month.
The most recent data as of Oct. 23 shows Covid infection, hospitalization and death rates continue to be highest among Oregonians not vaccinated against Covid compared with those vaccinated as recommended, which includes a booster shot.
In September, the state recorded seven deaths with Covid per 100,000 unvaccinated adult Oregonians, compared to two deaths per 100,000 adults vaccinated as recommended. Hospitalization rates in September were 42 per 100,000 unvaccinated adults compared to 14 per 100,000 vaccinated as recommended.
The data will next be published in mid-December.
MANDATES
Oregon’s mask mandate lifted on March 11 at 11:59 p.m.
Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-704-0355.
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Abbey McDonald joined the Salem Reporter in 2022. She previously worked as the business reporter at The Astorian, where she covered labor issues, health care and social services. A University of Oregon grad, she has also reported for the Malheur Enterprise, The News-Review and Willamette Week.
