PORTLAND, Ore. — With fall sports seasons underway, many are gathering for big football games and soccer matches, sometimes in stadiums with tens of thousands of other people.
All who attend have to prove they are vaccinated to get inside and data show there have been no major COVID-19 outbreaks as a result.
Dr. Emilio Debess, a senior advisor to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), said events where proof of vaccination is required are relatively safe.
“It does show that you know the fact that you’re vaccinated and that you masked during this activity is actually very protective and will limit the number of cases,” said Dr. Debess.
OHA's latest weekly report on case numbers in Oregon also shows an encouraging sign.
From Sept. 27 to Oct. 3, the were 10,400 cases reported statewide. That's nearly 9% fewer cases than reported the week before. It's also the fifth week in a row that case numbers have dropped.
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There are also 462 new hospitalizations due to COVID in the same timeframe, 50 fewer than the week before; that's a 10% drop and the fourth consecutive week of declines.
As of Oct. 6, the state was vaccinating more than 10,000 people were day over a seven-day period. That is up 1.4% from the week before. It's also way up compared to mid-July, when Oregon was vaccinating closer to 5,500 people per day.
Dr. Debess said state mandates requiring workers to get vaccinated to keep their jobs appear to have helped push up vaccination numbers.
“You know, the mandates play a significant role. I think Oregonians mostly do listen to the governor and understand we’re doing this out of concern for public health,” he said.
Dr. Debess also believes more families are getting vaccinated as they send their kids back to school.
OHA's daily COVID-19 report
OHA reported 1,580 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases and 23 additional deaths related to the virus on Friday. There have been 341,113 cases and 3,982 deaths reported since the start of the pandemic.
The latest modeling shows daily cases and hospitalizations slowly continuing to decline through mid-October.
As of Friday, there are 656 COVID patients hospitalized in Oregon, 43 fewer than Thursday. There are 167 COVID patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is six fewer than Thursday.
There are 48 available adult ICU beds out of 688 total (7% availability) and 294 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,229 (7% availability).
Multnomah County reported the most cases Friday with 172, followed by Linn County with 141 and Marion County with 136. Here are the counties that reported new cases:
Baker (6), Benton (26), Clackamas (95), Clatsop (9), Columbia (28), Coos (25), Crook (51), Curry (6), Deschutes (142), Douglas (41), Harney (9), Hood River (11), Jackson (68), Jefferson (21), Josephine (23), Klamath (76), Lake (12), Lane (133), Lincoln (10), Linn (141), Malheur (25), Marion (136), Morrow (8), Multnomah (172), Polk (18), Tillamook (2), Umatilla (59), Union (28), Wallowa (11), Wasco (11), Washington (125), Wheeler (12) and Yamhill (40).
OHA released the following information about the 23 people who died:
- Oregon’s 3,960th COVID-19 related death is a 76-year-old woman from Jackson County who tested positive on Aug. 31 and died on Sept. 23 at Providence Medford Medical Center. She had underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,961st COVID-19 related death is a 32-year-old man from Douglas County who tested positive on Aug. 27 and died on Oct. 6 at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital. He had no underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,962nd COVID-19 related death is a 43-year-old woman from Douglas County who tested positive on Sept. 10 and died on Oct. 7 at her residence. She had underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,963rd COVID-19 related death is a 72-year-old man from Coos County who tested positive on Sept. 25 and died on Oct. 6 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend. He had underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,964th COVID-19 related death is an 82-year-old man from Coos County who tested positive on Sept. 22 and died on Oct. 5 at his residence. He had underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,965th COVID-19 related death is a 91-year-old man from Coos County who tested positive on Sept. 18 and died on Oct. 3 at his residence. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.
- Oregon’s 3,966th COVID-19 related death is a 95-year-old woman from Coos County who tested positive on Sept. 24 and died on Oct. 6 at Bay Area Hospital. She had underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,967th COVID-19 related death is a 71-year-old man from Baker County who tested positive on Sept. 21 and died on Oct. 4 at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington. He had underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,968th COVID-19 related death is a 63-year-old man from Jackson County who tested positive on Sept. 29 and died on Oct. 6 at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center. He had underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,969th COVID-19 related death is a 63-year-old man from Jackson County who tested positive on Sept. 19 and died on Oct. 6 at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center. He had underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,970th COVID-19 related death is a 61-year-old woman from Multnomah County who tested positive on Sept. 12 and died on Sept. 22 at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.
- Oregon’s 3,971st COVID-19 related death is a 61-year-old woman from Multnomah County who tested positive on Sept. 8 and died on Sept. 20 at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center. She had underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,972nd COVID-19 related death is a 79-year-old man from Umatilla County who tested positive on Sept. 30 and died on Oct. 4 at his residence. He had underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,973rd COVID-19 related death is a 94-year-old woman from Umatilla County who tested positive on Sept. 23 and died on Sept. 27 at her residence. She had underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,974th COVID-19 related death is a 68-year-old woman from Umatilla County who tested positive on Sept. 1 and died on Sept. 2 at Good Shepherd Hospital. She had underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,975th COVID-19 related death is a 54-year-old woman from Tillamook County who tested positive on Aug. 13 and died on Oct. 1 at Providence Portland Medical Center. She had underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,976th COVID-19 related death is a 74-year-old person from Linn County who tested positive on Sept. 23 and died on Oct. 5 at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions and gender are being confirmed.
- Oregon’s 3,977th COVID-19 related death is a 60-year-old man from Marion County who tested positive on Sept. 22 and died on Oct. 5 at Salem Hospital. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.
- Oregon’s 3,978th COVID-19 related death is a 75-year-old man from Lane County who tested positive on Sept. 21 and died on Oct. 5 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend. He had underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,979th COVID-19 related death is a 78-year-old man from Lane County who tested positive on July 30 and died on Aug. 6 at his residence. He had underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,980th COVID-19 related death is an 86-year-old man from Lake County who tested positive on Oct. 1 and died on Oct. 4 at St. Charles Bend Hospital. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.
- Oregon’s 3,981st COVID-19 related death is a 64-year-old man from Klamath County who tested positive on Sept. 29 and died on Oct. 6 at Sky Lakes Medical Center. He had underlying conditions.
- Oregon’s 3,982nd COVID-19 related death is a 66-year-old woman from Klamath County who tested positive on Sept. 20 and died on Oct. 6 at Sky Lakes Medical Center. She had underlying conditions.
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