On Tuesday, October 19th, Oregon Governor Kate Brown thanked the state workers who chose to get vaccinated or risk losing their jobs, and also thanked the Oregon National Guard for assisting hospitals and long-term care facilities as fears of staff shortages loomed, stating that vaccination is the only way out of the pandemic, urging the unvaccinated to talk to with their doctors and not wait any longer.
Vaccine mandates imposed by Governor Kate Brown and surrounding state governors impacting hundreds of state employees and contractors went into effect Monday, October 18th. Oregon state troopers have reported that just under 10% have been impacted and as of Monday, October 18th, 74 commissioned Washington State officers including 67 troopers, 6 sergeants, and 1 captain have reportedly been forced out of the department.
Prior to the Monday, October 18th, deadline, Oregon Governor Kate Brown approved a process that extended the deadline for some 43,000 state employees who are members of two of the largest unions in the state. SEIU Local 503 and AFSCME Council 75 members who have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine by October 18th to complete their immunization by November 30th.
Across the state, vaccination rates continue to lag, an increase of just .4% in the past week. In the past week the state sat at 76.3% vaccinated, and to date, now sits at 76.7%. Oregon Health Authority and the Center for Disease Control assured individuals that the fully vaccinated are well protected from COVID, including the delta variant and has now reached 8,818 individuals, including approximately 500 combined in region 3 consisting the 4 counties of Curry, Coos, Douglas and Lane.
Oregon Health Authority data show breakthrough case records began being kept some thirteen weeks ago. In that same thirteen week period, approximately 141,195 Oregonians tested positive for COVID-19. However, in that same twelve week period, there have been 32,954 vaccine breakthrough cases identified in Oregon alone, adding 2,267 breakthrough cases alone in the past week, and now totaling 23% off all new cases in the state.
Vaccine breakthrough cases are defined as instances in which an individual received a positive COVID-19 test result at least 14 days following the completion of any COVID-19 vaccine series.
As of Friday, October 22nd, the state of Oregon had tested 7,404,613 individuals, an increase of 148,270 individuals and now over 3,115,173 more people than the states 4,289,440 population. 6,914,863 have tested negative for the novel COVID-19 virus 489,750 have tested positive, and there are 357,526 total cases in the state.
Individuals hospitalized rose by 368 hospitalizations statewide in the past week, and now stands at 18,758 in the entire state since the pandemic began. In the past week 179 deaths were recorded statewide, and Oregonians who have unfortunately succumbed to COVID-19 has now reached 4,161 individuals throughout the entire state since the pandemic began.
Curry County’s latest numbers as reported Friday, October 22nd, by the Oregon Health Authority, now reports testing 23,194 individuals with 21,362 negative tests, 1,832 total positive COVID-19 tests, and the latest data from the Oregon Health Authority has recorded 1,806 total cases and 25 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
Del Norte County Department of Health and Human Services reported adding 34 new cases in the past week now reaching 3,691 total confirmed cases reported by Public Health, with 41 active cases, 2 current hospitalizations and 40 deaths.
Coos County to the north, reported testing 83,484 individuals last week with 77,875 negative results, adding 141 new cases in the past week with now 5,037 total positive cases and 94 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
Josephine County has seen significant increases in recent weeks and has reported testing 141,397 individuals with 128,496 negative results, 12,901 total positive test results with 9,384 total cases of COVID-19 and now 196 deaths.
Jackson County, which includes the Medford area, with a total population of 221,290, reports testing 385,485 individuals, 164,195 more people than the counties total population, with 351,814 negative test results, 33,671 positive results, and 23,059 total cases of COVID-19 with now 310 deaths as of Friday, October 22nd.
