The Oregon health authority on Tuesday announced 316 new cases of coronavirus and two deaths, with the list of counties increasing vaccine admissions.
Twenty of 36 provinces are now eligible for people aged 45 to 64 with underlying health conditions, certain frontline workers and people who are homeless.
The counties of Douglas, Harney, Josephine, Klamath, Linn, Sherman and Yamhill were added to the list on Tuesday. They join the counties of Baker, Benton, Deschutes, Grant, Jefferson, Lake, Lincoln, Malheur, Marion, Morrow, Polk, Umatilla, and Union.
Civil servants announced last week that provinces could choose to vaccinate more groups this week or wait until March 29. Portland officials said they have no plans to accelerate the timeline so they can focus on vaccinating the elderly.
Meanwhile, the Oregon Health Authority said Tuesday it has expanded the pool of health workers capable of administering vaccine doses. The list includes at least 18 groups of professionals, plus 12 groups of medical students, although it was not immediately clear how many of the groups are now eligible.
Government Kate Brown on Tuesday also commemorated the one-year anniversary of the signing of her home order, noting that Oregon reported among the lowest cases and deaths per capita in America.
“We still need to be careful because new COVID-19 mutations continue to spread,” she said in a statement. ‘Every day we are constantly gaining ground, but we must continue to wear masks, keep physical distance and vaccinate. We will emerge from this crisis in the same way we encountered it today one year ago – along with the opportunity to rebuild a stronger, fairer and fairer Oregon. ‘
Vaccines: Oregon reported 18,241 newly administered doses, including 10,845 on Monday and the remainder of previous days.
Where the new cases are by country: Baker (3), Benton (2), Clackamas (30), Columbia (2), Coos (4), Crook (2), Curry (4), Deschutes (24), Douglas (7), Grant (1), Hood River (3), Jackson (28), Jefferson (1), Josephine (17), Klamath (11), Lane (17), Lincoln (5), Linn (4), Malheur (1), Marion (21) , Multnomah (44), Polk (6), Tillamook (3), Umatilla (10), Union (3), Wasco (1), Washington (56) and Yamhill (6).
Who died: Oregon’s 2,366th COVID-19 death is an 85-year-old man in Coos County who tested positive on March 16 and died March 21 at Bay Area Hospital.
The 2,367 deaths are a 67-year-old woman in Coos County who tested positive on March 2 and died on March 13 at Mercy Medical Center.
Each person had underlying health conditions.
Hospitalizations: 109 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 are admitted to hospital, including 16 in intensive care.
Since it started: Oregon reported 162,016 confirmed or suspected infections and 2,367 deaths, one of the lowest per capita numbers in the country. To date, the state has reported 1,549,056 vaccine administrations.
Visit https://projects.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/ to see more coronavirus data and trends.
– Brad Schmidt; [email protected]; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt