Covid weekly report for Nov. 18: Cases increase statewide and in Marion County – Salem Reporter

This week, there was an increase in average daily Covid cases statewide and in Marion County, and a slight decrease in new cases in Polk County.

HOSPITAL CAPACITY

As of Friday, Nov. 18, Salem Hospital had 19 inpatients with Covid. 

Of those, one was in the ICU and none were on a ventilator.

375 of the 415 adult acute and critical care beds were in use, or 90%.

451 total hospital beds were in use on Friday. The hospital recently expanded its licensed bed capacity from 494 to 644 with the addition of a new tower, but that total includes every potential licensed bed at Salem Hospital including those dedicated to specific uses, like pediatrics, inpatient psychiatry, and labor and delivery.

The daily number of hospitalized Covid patients has been between 12 and 19 patients over the past week, according to Michael Gay, Salem Health spokesman. Last week, the number was between 9 and 15. 

Region 2, which is Marion, Polk, Yamhill, Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties, had 24 people hospitalized with Covid as of Nov. 16, compared with 20 the week prior and 26 two weeks ago.

CASES

In the week ending Nov 16, the average daily number of new Covid cases reported increased statewide and in Marion County, and decreased in Polk County compared to the week prior.

Marion County: 30 new Covid cases per day on average, a rate of 61.4 cases per 100,000 residents.
That’s up from 26 average daily cases last week and 21 the week before.

5.6% of Covid tests this week were positive, down from 6.4% last week
The Oregon Health Authority reported three newly identified deaths of county residents with Covid in the past week. It reported two the week prior. 

Polk County: 7 new Covid cases per day on average, a rate of 55.1 cases per 100,000 residents. 

That’s down from last week’s average of 8 daily cases, and matches 7 the week before.

5.3% of Covid tests this week were positive, a decrease from 7.9% last week.

The Oregon Health Authority reported one newly identified death of county residents with Covid in the past week.

Oregon: 465 new cases per day on average, up from 401 average daily cases last week; 6.8% of tests were positive, compared with 6.5% last week.

VACCINATION AND BREAKTHROUGH CASES

The Oregon Health Authority has a data dashboard showing trends in cases, hospitalizations and deaths by vaccination status, updated on the second Wednesday of each month. 

The most recent data as of Oct. 23 shows Covid infection, hospitalization and death rates continue to be highest among Oregonians not vaccinated against Covid compared with those vaccinated as recommended, which includes a booster shot.

In September, the state recorded seven deaths with Covid per 100,000 unvaccinated adult Oregonians, compared to two deaths per 100,000 adults vaccinated as recommended. Hospitalization rates in September were 42 per 100,000 unvaccinated adults compared to 14 per 100,000 vaccinated as recommended.

The data will next be published in December.

MANDATES

Oregon’s mask mandate lifted on March 11 at 11:59 p.m. 

Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-704-0355.

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