The Oregon Health Authority will hold a briefing at 11 a.m. Friday about COVID-19 as the omicron variant surges in the state.
Watch the Oregon Health Authority briefing live here:
In just the past two days, some Portland-area schools have moved to distance learning as a response to COVID-19-linked staff and student absences, the state has announced triage guidelines in case hospitals get overwhelmed, and people seeking tests to see if they are infected have reported long waits and widespread testing shortages.
For each of the past four consecutive days, Oregon has shattered its previous record of new COVID-19 diagnoses, with health officials reporting 7,615 new cases on Thursday — a figure that does not include most people who test positive with at-home tests.
Speakers at Friday’s briefing will include Oregon state health officer Dr. Dean Sidelinger, Oregon Department of Education Director Colt Gill and Peter Graven, Ph.D, director of the Oregon Health and Science University Office of Advanced Analytics.