PPE during a free drive-through testing clinic at Woodburn Ambulance Service on Tuesday, August 25. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
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Marion and Polk counties saw fewer new cases of Covid in the past week than in the week prior, and are generally performing well on state measures of the public health response to the virus.
However, Marion County is still reporting weekly about nine times the number of new cases allowed under Gov. Kate Brown’s benchmark for school reopening, and three times the number needed to hold limited classes in-person for kindergarten through third grade students.
Polk County is closer, with Oregon Health Authority’s most recent reports showing about 35 new cases weekly per 100,000 residents, just over the threshold of a 30 per 100,000 target to hold kindergarten in-person.
Marion County, to date, has 3,706 people who have tested positive for or are presumed to have the virus, with 321 of those people hospitalized at some point during their illness.
In the past week, the county reported 281 new Covid cases, down from 335 in the prior week, and four deaths.
Polk County added 21 new cases of Covid to its tally this week and no deaths. The county’s total stands at 401 total cases and 13 deaths.
The counties were collectively meeting all state metrics as of Aug. 22, according to Oregon Health Authority data released Thursday, though Marion County individually is seeing a higher percentage of tests come back positive. Polk County reported that 31% of new Covid cases couldn’t be traced to a known source, just over the state’s target of no more than 30%.
Hospitalizations related to the virus in both counties were trending down, OHA reported, though the agency will not disclose hospitalization rates by county despite repeated requests by Salem Reporter and other news outlets.
Brown’s plan to control the virus’ spread hinges on hospital capacity not being overwhelmed and public health workers being able to identify where and how the virus is spreading through connecting cases.
Here’s the latest data for both counties.
Correction: This article misstated the weekly count of new Covid cases in Polk County after inadvertently leaving out one day. It was 21, not 13.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.
