PORTLAND, Ore. — For the third consecutive day, the Oregon Health Authority reported no new deaths in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. The state’s death toll remains at 148 people (0.3 deaths per 10,000 Oregonians).
Wednesday marks the 11th time in May that the state public health agency has reported zero deaths in its daily update on the virus.
The OHA reported 71 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. Those people live in the following counties:
- Multnomah: 41
- Marion: 6
- Jackson: 5
- Washington: 5
- Clackamas: 4
- Lake: 2
- Lincoln: 2
- Polk: 2
- Wasco: 2
- Hood River: 1
- Yamhill: 1
Oregon has had a total of 4,038 coronavirus cases, including presumptive cases, as of Wednesday morning. It’s not clear how many of those are active infections. While people presumed to have the virus have not yet tested positive, they have shown COVID-19 symptoms and had close contact with a confirmed case.
A total of 116,901 people have been tested for COVID-19, with 112,954 people (96.6%) testing negative.
Outbreak at Tri-county region business
OHA and local county health authorities are investigating an outbreak of COVID-19 at specific locations of a business that operates in the Tri-county region and the Willamette Valley. They didn't specify the business or locations where the outbreak occurred.
There's no indication that the outbreak poses a significant risk to surrounding communities, OHA said. The health agency said it expects to see an increase in the number positive test results reported over the next few days as test results are completed.
OHA said it will release more information about the outbreak, including information about the location, in the coming days.
Percentage of positive tests hits new low
The 71 new confirmed cases are among 1,451 newly reported test results on Wednesday, meaning 5% of those tests were positive. The percentage of positive test results has been declining as the number of tests completed have increased in Oregon.
The OHA said 1.7% of people tested the week of May 18-24 tested positive for the coronavirus, the lowest percentage during the pandemic. The percentage of positive tests was down from 2.6% the week before, which at that time was the lowest mark during the pandemic.
OHA said it recorded 289 new cases of COVID-19 last week, down 26% from the previous week. The number of tests recorded rose by 5% to 17,214.
