Oregon sets new daily record of COVID cases, hospitalizations
Published 3:00 pm Tuesday, August 17, 2021
- A chart breaking down Oregon's daily COVID hospitalizations.
Oregon set a new daily record Tuesday with 2,941 identified coronavirus cases, shattering the old mark, as the number of Oregonians hospitalized with COVID-19 soared higher.
Health officials reported 838 people are currently hospitalized in Oregon with COVID-19. That’s 86 more COVID-19 patients than Monday, or an overnight increase of 11%.
The coronavirus pandemic is spreading especially fast in Southern Oregon, where vaccination rates lag. Some intensive-care units at hospitals are at or near capacity. The summer surge is being fueled by the delta variant, a highly transmissible version of the coronavirus, which is responsible for 96% of the known COVID-19 infections in the state.
Tuesday’s numbers also included more grim news: 15 reported deaths, and a daily test positivity rate of 12.2%.
Oregon’s old records for daily cases both came last week: 2,329 last Tuesday and 2,387 Thursday.