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Salem weekly Covid report for April 8: New cases, regional hospitalizations rise slightly

Used masks fill a garbage can at Salem Hospital on Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)

Covid cases are ticking up again in Oregon, with a slight increase in Marion County and decrease in Polk County. Hospitalizations are low locally and regionally, but have increased slightly from a low point last week. Here’s our report for April 8, 2022. 

HOSPITAL CAPACITY

Salem Hospital’s Covid patient numbers have remained low, while the mid-Willamette region has seen a slight uptick in the number Covid-positive hospital inpatients. Hospitalization numbers are still near their low point for the entire pandemic.

Salem Health stopped publishing weekly reports on Covid inpatients on March 25 as the number has continued to decline. As of Thursday, April 7, the hospital had six inpatients with Covid, none of them in the ICU or on ventilators. 

There were 458 of 494 licensed hospital beds in use.

Lisa Wood, Salem Health spokeswoman, said in general the number of Covid patients has remained low, with none or few in the ICU or on ventilators.

The graph below shows the hospital’s trends from the start of the delta surge until March 25, when weekly reporting stopped.

(Graph by Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter)

Region 2, which is Marion, Polk, Yamhill, Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties, had 15 people hospitalized with Covid as of April 7, compared with nine the week prior and 22 two weeks ago.

VACCINATION AND BREAKTHROUGH CASES

For the week ending April 2, 47.2% of all Covid cases were in people vaccinated against Covid, according to the state’s most recent breakthrough case report published April 7. About 75% of Oregon adults are vaccinated against Covid.

Of vaccinated people who contracted Covid, 58.5% had received a booster shot. 

The rate of Covid infection among unvaccinated Oregonians was three times higher than vaccinated Oregonians.

The Oregon Health Authority said Thursday it would reduce the frequently of its breakthrough case reports to monthly. The next report will be published May 5.

MANDATES

Oregon’s mask mandate lifted on March 11 at 11:59 p.m. 

CASES

The number of new Covid cases reported climbed statewide and slightly in Marion County, while declining in Polk County. This data is for the week ending April 6. 

Marion County: 18 new Covid cases per day on average, a rate of 36.1 cases per 100,000 residents.

That’s up slightly from 17 average daily cases for the week ending March 30, and 15 average daily cases the week ending March 23. 

2.7% of Covid tests this week were positive.

Polk County: 2.4 new Covid cases per day on average, a rate of 20.3 cases per 100,000 residents. 

That’s down from an average of three daily cases the week prior. 

2.2% of Covid tests this week were positive.

Oregon: 305.6 new cases per day on average, up from 254.7 average daily cases the week prior, with 3.8% of tests positive.

-Rachel Alexander