SALEM, Ore. (KGW) — The Oregon Health Authority reported 18,538 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases over the weekend, according to a Monday news release.
The breakdown was 8,156 cases on Friday, 6,292 on Saturday and 4,090 on Sunday, according to the agency’s data dashboard.
The individual totals are each a decline from the day before, but that’s typical — for the past four weeks, Oregon has seen case numbers rise each day from Monday to Thursday and then decline over the weekends.
Each day’s count is still higher than any single-day count the state had seen prior to last week, when the omicron wave set a series of new records.
Prior to last week, the single-day record was 3,207 cases on Aug. 27, at the height of the delta variant wave. Daily cases declined through the fall but began to rise steadily in the week of Dec. 12 as the omicron wave began.
Dec. 30 set a new record with 3,527 cases, and then the record was broken on a daily basis last week with 4,537 cases logged on Jan. 3, 6,197 on Jan. 4, 7,604 on Jan. 5 and 10,431 on Jan. 6.
The state’s seven-day average of cases per day rose to 6,758 as of Monday morning, up from 4,995 reported on Friday morning, and the test positivity rate rose from 21.5% to 22.1% over the same period.
Test volume is also near a record high, OHA reported, with 51,996 tests reported on Jan. 7 alone, the third-highest single-day count during the pandemic.
OHA reported 18 new COVID-related deaths over the weekend, raising the state’s total death toll to 5,779. Oregon’s case total now stands at 478,203.
There were 692 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 across Oregon as of Monday morning, an increase of 33 from the prior report. There were 138 COVID patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, an increase of 11 from the prior report.
There were 46 adult ICU beds available statewide as of Monday morning and 295 non-ICU beds available — 7% availability in both cases.
The OHA news release urged Oregonians to get tested if they develop any symptoms of COVID-19 or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, regardless of their vaccination status, and to stay home and away from others while waiting for the results.
State officials also urged residents to ease the pressure on health care systems by not going to the emergency room for COVID-19 treatment or testing unless they develop symptoms that require emergency care.
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