Oregon COVID-19 New Cases Set Record, Deaths Rise, Hospitals Fill

LAKE OSWEGO, OR — There were 4,540 new cases of COVID-19 recorded in Oregon on Monday. That's not only a record high, it is nearly double what the state had been averaging over the past four days. Speaking of four, the number of deaths recorded on Monday was 44. That is four times the number of deaths that had been recorded over the previous four days. Combined.

Since the pandemic began, there have been 435, 453 cases in the state and 5,710 Oregonians have died from the virus.

Officials say that this is what life is like under omicron.

They add that while it could be worse – Oregon's cases per capita rate is one of the better ones in the country – the fact is that it doesn't have to be this bad,

Officials say that what makes omicron such a problem is that it can affect even people who have been vaccinated and bolstered. That is not a reason to not get boostered, officials say. Without the booster shot, many more people would die, many more people would be hospitalized.

Complicating matters is that people are not rushing to get their booster shots.

On December 17, Governor Brown challenged the state to get 1 million more people to get their booster shots by the end of January.

While an impressive number – 216,977 – have received a booster shot, the pace is far below what's needed to reach that goal. An average of 12,763 people have received a booster shot since the day that Brown issued the challenge.

At that rate, 344,610 people will get booster shots between now and then, bringing the total to 561,587 since the challenge was issued. that just more than half the goal.

Health officials tell Patch that they hope that the lull was a result of the holidays and that things will pick up. If it doesn't more people will get sick and more people will die.

Meanwhile, hospitals are getting more and more crowded.

Across the state, more than 90 percent of ICU beds for adults and non-ICU beds are full. In certain areas, the situation is more dire.

In hospitals in Clackamas, Clatsop Columbia, Multnomah, Tillamook, and Washington Counties, 94 percent of the ICU beds for adults are full, almost to be expected during a pandemic. The thing is, the beds for adults who don't need to be in intensive care, those are 99 percent full.

The case is even worse in hospitals serving Benton, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Polk, and Yamhill Counties. There, 97 percent of the adult beds in ICUs are full and 99 percent of the beds for adults that are not in intensive care are full.

Officials say that the 4,530 new cases reported on Monday were spread across 35 of the state's 36 counties.

Here's the county by county breakdown:

Baker (8), Benton (102), Clackamas (652), Clatsop (38), Columbia (34), Coos (3), Crook (59), Curry (4), Deschutes (280), Douglas (54), Gilliam (8), Grant (6), Harney (4), Jackson (132), Jefferson (21), Josephine (55), Klamath (86), Lake (6), Lane (443), Lincoln (13), Linn (102), Malheur (38), Marion (464), Morrow (6), Multnomah (786), Polk (123), Sherman (7), Tillamook (17), Umatilla (109), Union (29), Wallowa (10), Wasco (30), Washington (610), Wheeler (1) and Yamhill (200).