PORTLAND, Ore — The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) on Friday reported 492 new cases of COVID-19 and zero new deaths due to the virus.
The state’s death toll remains at 2,149 people.
New cases
The number of known COVID-19 cases in Oregon is now up to 152,190.
Multnomah County had the highest number of cases on Friday with 61, followed by Washington County with 54.
The new cases are in the following counties: Baker (2), Benton (25), Clackamas (27), Columbia (12), Coos (26), Curry (8), Deschutes (11), Douglas (21), Harney (3), Hood River (2), Jackson (52), Jefferson (5), Josephine (23), Klamath (10), Lake (3), Lane (38), Lincoln (1), Linn (8), Malheur (6), Marion (42), Morrow (5), Multnomah (61), Polk (15), Tillamook (1), Umatilla (12), Union (4), Wallowa (2), Wasco (1), Washington (54) and Yamhill (12).
Vaccinations
OHA said as of Friday, 755,657 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been given in Oregon. 922,300 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon.
Severe weather continues to delay COVID-19 vaccine shipments across the country including in Oregon, OHA said. On Friday, OHA Director Patrick Allen said the state is still on schedule with its vaccine rollout despite the weather-related delays.
RELATED: Oregon's vaccination rollout on track despite severe weather problems, says state health director
New school dashboard
OHA and the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) launched a new tool that shows the operating status of every school in the state. It also shows ODE’s recommendations based on COVID-19 case counts, rates and test positivity by county. The new dashboard shows data displayed from the previous week. Data is collected on Fridays and will be updated the following Tuesday by 5 p.m., OHA said.
New COVID forecast
OHA released its latest COVID-19 model that shows a slight increase in transmission. The new report estimates that, as of Feb. 3, the statewide reproductive rate was 0.88.
According to the OHA’s newest forecast, if Oregonians continue along their present course of wearing masks, keeping physical distance and restricting gatherings, daily cases will decline to an average of 320, with 10 fewer COVID-19 hospitalizations and 107 per 140,000 people between Feb. 25 and March 9.
“The new modeling warns that more Oregonians may be open to resuming activities that pose a higher risk of spread, especially as risk levels change for Oregon counties,” OHA said. “That and the potential of a COVID-19 variant that becomes dominant could contribute to greater spread.”
78% of Oregonians regularly wear face coverings, according to the report, and most Oregonians believe the existing vaccines are safe and effective.
Hospitalizations
Health officials said there are currently 176 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Oregon, six more than Thursday. There are 49 coronavirus patients in intensive care unit beds, which is three fewer than Thursday.
