Health care workers work in the intensive care unit at Salem Hospital on Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Salem Reporter has reworked our Covid reports to a weekly format based on feedback from readers.
The overwhelming majority of those who responded said they want to keep seeing reports on local numbers, and many suggested data points they found especially helpful.
Our goal is to keep you informed about trends in Covid cases and hospitalizations, as well as how full our local hospital is – whether Covid-related or not.
Here’s our report for March 4, 2022.
HOSPITAL CAPACITY
Salem Hospital and the mid-Willamette region have reported a decline in both the number of Covid-positive inpatients and the total number of hospital patients over the past week.
As of Thursday, the hospital has 464 total inpatients, 93% of its total capacity of 494 people. Pre-pandemic, Salem Hospital was typically 80% to 85% full, hospital leaders have said.
On Thursday, the hospital recorded 42 Covid inpatients, including four in the ICU and two on ventilators. Of those, 14 are vaccinated against Covid and 28 are unvaccinated.
Salem Health does not consistently report the number of patients who have received a booster vaccine dose because of the difficulty tracking whether patients are eligible for a booster in real time, spokeswoman Lisa Wood said. The vaccinated patient count includes any patient who has received at least two doses of a Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Region 2, which is Marion, Polk, Yamhill, Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties, had 79 people hospitalized with Covid as of March 3, compared with 120 the week prior.
VACCINATION AND BREAKTHROUGH CASES
For the week of Feb. 26, 47% of all Covid cases were in people vaccinated against Covid, according to the state’s most recent breakthrough case report. About 75% of Oregon adults are vaccinated against Covid.
Of vaccinated people who contracted Covid, 42% had received a booster shot.
The rate of Covid infection among unvaccinated Oregonians was two times higher than vaccinated Oregonians, and three times higher than Oregonians who had also received a booster shot.
MANDATES
Masks are required in indoor public places and K-12 schools in Oregon through March 12.
CASES
The number of new Covid cases reported locally has fallen by more than half over the past week. This data is for the week ending March 2.
Marion County: 50 new Covid cases per day on average, a rate of 99.7 cases per 100,000 residents.
That’s down from 75 average daily cases for the week ending Feb. 23.
5.2% of Covid tests this week were positive.
Polk County: 13 new Covid cases per day on average, a rate of 107.4 cases per 100,000 residents.
That’s down from an average of 24 daily cases the week prior.
4.2% of Covid tests this week were positive.
Oregon: 685 new cases per day on average, a rate of 112.4 cases per 100,000 residents, with 4.5% of tests positive.
-Saphara Harrell
