Tuesday marked another serious milestone in the Oregon pandemic. The state health authority announced 14 new deaths, a one-day record that released Oregon’s death toll to more than 300 people.
The announcement came just a day after the state had zero new deaths on the books.
“As we exceed 300 COVID-19 related deaths, including the 14 deaths reported today, I wish to express my sincere condolences on behalf of everyone at OHA to families who have lost a loved one to this disease,” said the director. from the Oregon Health Authority, Patrick. Allen said in a press release. “It is a clear reminder of the work that all Oregonians must do to control this pandemic. Together we can stop this disease and prevent this terrible loss of life. “
The OHA also reported 342 new confirmed and suspected cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. Most of that total came from Umatilla and Multnomah counties with 75 and 74 new cases, respectively.
Schools closed
Some of Oregon’s largest school districts announced Tuesday that they will not reopen for in-person instruction until at least November.
Gov. Kate Brown announced that coronavirus testing counties would have to meet for schools to reopen Tuesday afternoon. Almost immediately, a cascade of press releases from Oregon school districts hit email inboxes. Portland Public Schools, Salem-Keizer, Beaverton, North Clackamas and Tigard-Tualatin say they will start the school year online. Chemawa Indian School, the boarding school for Native American students outside Salem, announced its remote learning plan earlier in the week.
Oregon will require a combination of two metrics (with limited exceptions) for schools to reopen:
- The county in which a school is located must have 10 or fewer diagnosed coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents over a seven-day period, three weeks in a row.
- The county in which a school is located must have a test positivity rate of less than 5% for a period of seven days, three weeks in a row.
The latest guidelines are subject to change.
No new deaths in Clark County
Clark County reported 37 additional cases of coronavirus on Tuesday and there were no new deaths. Since the start of the pandemic, 1,680 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus in the county and 37 have died.
The latest available data from the Washington Department of Health shows 54,205 cumulative cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and 1,548 deaths.
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