PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Following a day in which the state broke the record for number of COVID-19 deaths (24), Oregon tallied 18 more Wednesday, bringing the coronavirus death toll to 953.
Those who died lived in counties scattered around the state: 5 in Lane County, 2 in Jackson and one each in Marion, Douglas, Malheur, Hood River, Umatilla, Klamath, Clackamas, Josephine, Columbia, Multnomah and Washington.
They ranged in age between 57 and 98. All but one had underlying health conditions and tests are continuing on that other case.
Cases
The Oregon Health Authority reported 1,244 confirmed/presumptive cases of the virus along with the casualties. To date, Oregon has recorded 78,160 cases of COVID-19.
The confirmed cases were recorded in 34 of Oregon’s 36 counties. The tri-county region of Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas collectively accounted for 594.
The full county list for December 2: Baker (5), Benton (28), Clackamas (128), Clatsop (5), Columbia (13), Coos (10), Crook (4), Curry (3), Deschutes (30), Douglas (12), Grant (1), Harney (2), Hood River (16), Jackson (65), Jefferson (12), Josephine (11), Klamath (16), Lake (5), Lane (69), Lincoln (19), Linn (29), Malheur (26), Marion (122), Morrow (7), Multnomah (282), Polk (26), Tillamook (7), Umatilla (61), Union (12), Wallowa (1), Wasco (4), Washington (184), Wheeler (1) and Yamhill (28).
The agency also reported that hospitalizations for the virus dropped from 577 Tuesday to 549 Wednesday. There were also 105 COVID-19 patients reported in intensive care unit (ICU) beds — six fewer than the day before.
OHA to change COVID-19 test reporting
Effective Wednesday, the Oregon Health Authority is revising its process for reporting test results to line up with new framework Gov. Kate Brown introduced last week. Counties will be listed in 4 risk levels: Extreme, High, Moderate and Low Risk.
One of the big changes is that OHS will now count test results, not count the people tested. “This change will provide a more complete picture of the spread of the disease in a community,” they said in a release.