Coronavirus Covid-19 background

Deschutes County is recording some of the highest per-capita cases of COVID-19 in the state, according to state health officials.

As of Thursday, Deschutes County reported 253.8 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people. Multnomah County had 301.6, and Washington County had 240.1 cases per 100,000, according to the Oregon Health Authority dashboard.

An Oregon Health & Science University report on COVID-19 spotlights two regions in the state with the highest per-capita cases of COVID-19.

The region that includes Deschutes County has the second highest number of COVID-19 cases per capita. The region with the highest cases per capita includes Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Multnomah, Tillamook and Washington counties.

The current COVID-19 variant, the hyper-contagious BA.2 version of the omicron variant now circulating in the community, has been causing less severe illness and not requiring nearly the same levels of hospitalization as previous variants of COVID-19. Officials believe the case counts may even be higher than reported because many people have home test kits and results are not reported.

Health officials anticipated that the positivity rate would increase, but just didn’t know when, said Emily Horton, Deschutes County Health Services COVID-19 program manager. With face masks removed, more people traveling and gatherings increasing, it was inevitable.

But at this point, the rate of illness should not tax hospitals and medical clinics, Horton said.

“We’re not seeing a surge of patients coming into the clinic, or hospital, equivalent to the increase in the positive tests,” said Dr. Jessica LeBlanc, Mosaic Medical chief health officer.

At St. Charles Bend, only one person has died of COVID-19 in the past 27 days, said Lisa Goodman, St. Charles Health System spokeswoman.

“Positive cases continue to rise across the state,” Goodman said. “Hospitalizations have also increased, but thankfully not at the corresponding rate we’ve seen in the past.”

Over the past week, the hospital has averaged 10 COVID-19 patients, she said. Even if the positivity rate doubles in the coming weeks, St. Charles expects 15 to 17 people would be hospitalized COVID-19 patients, she said.

“We’re trying to make sure we’re ready, but it’s difficult when everyone thinks (the pandemic) is over,” Horton said. “We want that too, but we’re more hesitant to say it’s an endemic. We’re not quite at that spot yet.”

Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which monitors community levels of COVID-19, listed the level for Deschutes County at medium. The CDC monitors the levels to help communities decide what prevention steps to take. Levels can be low, medium or high and are determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area.

Those with underlying health issues are urged to take precautions in communities with medium levels. Both Jefferson and Crook counties were at the low level, according to the CDC.

If you feel sick, get tested or test yourself at home. And repeat the test 24 hours later, according to the Deschutes County Health Services. Stay home if you’re sick. The county is still running vaccination sites. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends anyone over 50 should receive a second booster. More information on where to find testing locations can be found here.