PORTLAND, Ore. — The last week of October, Oregon had its lowest number of new hospitalizations due to COVID-19 since mid-summer, according to the Oregon Health Authority's COVID-19 weekly report released Wednesday.
From Oct. 25 to Oct. 31, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported 313 new hospitalizations, down from 415 the previous week. It's the lowest number of new hospitalizations since the week of July 26 to Aug. 1.
The same week, there were 82 reported deaths, down from 110 reported the previous week.
Despite the improvement, the state had its first uptick in new COVID cases after eight consecutive weeks of declining counts. It reported 7,877 new cases from Oct. 25 to Oct. 31, a 2.2% increase from the previous week.
The incidence of reported cases was higher in Oregon counties with population vaccination rates below 50%.
From Oct. 24 to Oct. 30, there were 130,325 tests administered in Oregon. The percentage of positive tests was 7.4%, unchanged from the previous week.
OHA's weekly outbreak report says there are 87 active COVID outbreaks in senior living communities and congregate living settings, with three or more confirmed cases and one or more related deaths.
