Oregon Health Authority’s weekly COVID-19 report, which covers Jan. 17 through Jan. 23, showed a small, 9.5% decrease in new COVID cases compared to the prior week. However, new hospitalizations increased more significantly over the previous week.
OHA logged 47,361 new cases of COVID-19 infection. Test positivity rose from 22% to 24.5%
OHA’s COVID-19 Weekly Report released Wednesday showed there were 638 new COVID-19-related hospitalizations. That’s a 45% increase over the previous week, and it’s the highest weekly increase in new hospitalizations since the delta surge peaked last fall.
The number of COVID-19-related deaths in Oregon fell to 59, down from 83 the previous week.
On the same day the report was released, Oregon surpassed 6,000 COVID-19 related deaths.
“Today Oregon surpassed another heartbreaking milestone – the 6,000th COVID-19-related death,” Dr. Dean Sidelinger, state health officer and state epidemiologist, said in a statement. “We’ve lost mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers. Coworkers and neighbors.
“These losses pain all of us. These losses also remind us that COVID-19 is still a formidable foe in Oregon, and the heart-wrenching impact on our lives is not behind us yet.”