COVID-19 cases start to climb in Oregon again – OregonLive

Oregon has reported more new COVID-19 cases so far this week than during the same time period last week, signaling if not the beginning of a new coronavirus bump, then a substantial slowdown in the post-omicron plunge in cases.

The increase in newly reported cases in Oregon this week has been relatively small, with the one-week daily average climbing from 200 cases Monday to 252 Friday. But the bump comes after nine consecutive weeks of rapid declines and it could presage more infections in the weeks ahead.

The up-and-down trajectory of infections has shifted often throughout the pandemic. Oregon set record case numbers during the January omicron surge by averaging more than 8,000 cases a day before falling to the lowest levels since last summer.

That puts the new increase in perspective, and many federal health officials have said they dont expect a large surge nationally driven by the even-more contagious BA.2 subvariant of omicron.

According to Oregon Health & Science University modeling, that subvariant, combined with the lifting of pandemic restrictions, could produce a bump in COVID-19 hospitalizations that would peak May 9.

About half of the estimated 293 hospitalizations would be people who happen to test positive for COVID-19 and are at a hospital to be treated for something else, OHSU analyst Peter Graven previously said in an email. The universitys modeling has both underestimated and overestimated past surges.

The BA.2 subvariant has already led to a surge in cases in Europe, a region that in the past has served as an early indicator of what could await the United States. Seventeen states have reported cases gains in recent weeks, according to The New York Times.

For now, coronavirus hospitalizations in Oregon remain near 110 occupied beds. The number of patients in intensive care unit beds has also fallen to lows unseen in months, with 15 occupied ICU beds reported Wednesday the lowest single-day number since the first pandemic wave in spring 2020.

In light of the falling hospitalizations and cases, the Oregon Health Authority said beginning Monday it will no longer release detailed news releases daily about the state of the pandemic. While much of the information will be available and updated each business day on the agencys online data dashboards, the state will no longer provide detailed information about those who died, including their age, county of residence, date they tested positive and the date and location of death.

Fedor Zarkhin

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COVID-19 cases start to climb in Oregon again - OregonLive