On Friday, the Oregon Health Authority said nine new coronavirus-related deaths bring the state’s total to 2,476. This comes as hospitalization rates skyrocket to nearly 300, which is the trigger for moving some counties back into the “Extreme Risk” category.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown released the following statement Friday:
“In the race between vaccines and variants, right now the variants have the upper hand,” said Governor Brown. “Today’s cases topped 1,000, with Oregon now ranking second in the nation for having the most rapid growth of infection spread. Our hospitals are about to surpass 300 positive COVID-19 cases. That means several counties are on the verge of having to reinstate Extreme Risk restrictions on businesses and activities.
“At this moment, we are moving backwards. Oregon needs to be moving forward. My goal is to get the state back on track to lift the restrictions this pandemic has forced upon us — I think we can get there by the start of summer, but we will all need to work together.
“In order to fully reopen our economy, we need to reach a significant majority of Oregonians with a vaccine; we need to close the equity gap in our vaccine efforts; and vaccine supplies need to be readily available for all eligible Oregonians who want to be protected. Vaccines are your best protection against the variants and the quickest way for us all to get back to the people and things we miss the most.
“That’s the hill on the horizon. We can climb it together. How quickly we get there is up to each and every one of us.”
OHA’s dashboards provide regularly updated vaccination data.
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