Oregon COVID Cases Reach New High, A 'Tragic Time' For Oregon

Colin Miner
·2 min read

PORTLAND, OR — The omicron-driven surge of COVID-19 that has had its grip tightly around the state for weeks, didn't show a sign of lessening on Friday. Oregon reported a record daily high for the number of new cases – 10,947 – while the number of hospitalizations topped 1,000.

While that's still below the high from the delta-driven surge last summer and short of what has been forecast as the high this time, the number is claiming in those directions.

Overall, the Oregon Health Authority said that the 10,947 new cases and 20 new deaths bring the totals to 570,892 and 5,936 since the pandemic began.

While State Epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger said it's a "tragic" period for Oregon, "there s some light at the end of this very dark tunnel.

Sidelinger said that current forecasts suggest that Oregon may reach the peak in new cases as early as next week with the peak for hospitalizations coming the week after that.

Hospitalizations are a "lagging indicator," Sidelinger said.

That can't come soon enough, according to officials who point to things being bad enough that the governor has sent nearly 2,000 National Guard members to 40 hospitals around the state.

OHA said Friday that there are counties with no beds in intensive care units available for adults and several counties where the number of non-ICU beds available for adults is 2 percent or fewer.

The state says that the 10,947 new cases were reported across 33 of the state' 36 counties.

Here's the county by county breakdown:

Baker (40), Benton (181), Clackamas (845), Clatsop (80), Columbia (201), Coos (200), Crook (114), Curry (28), Deschutes (663), Douglas (226), Gilliam (1), Harney (1), Hood River (43), Jackson (661), Jefferson (213), Josephine (243), Klamath (253), Lake (11), Lane (1,196), Lincoln (109), Linn (480), Malheur (99), Marion (1,221), Morrow (43), Multnomah (1,487), Polk (261), Tillamook (38), Umatilla (317), Union (68), Wallowa (20), Wasco (72), Washington (1,280) and Yamhill (252).

This article originally appeared on the Portland Patch