Wallowa County surpasses 400 cases as COVID-19 surge continues

Published 4:31 pm Monday, August 30, 2021

Wallowa County has surpassed 400 COVID-19 cases, and has now seen its case count double in just over a month.

The Oregon Health Authority reported Monday, Aug. 30, that there were 32 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend, which sent the overall total during the pandemic up to 405. They were among 5,545 cases the OHA reported over the weekend, and was the highest one-day report to date in the county, though its unclear if the county’s one-day record was topped.

The report comes near the end of a month that has seen COVID take off in Wallowa County and across the state, with OHA attributing the vast majority of cases to the delta variant. In August alone there have been 166 cases. That number is higher than the amount of cases from the start of the pandemic in March 2020 through April 28, 2021, when a report of three cases lifted the total in the county to 165.

The total in Wallowa County has more than doubled since the 200th case was reported on July 19, as it took just 41 days to move from 200 to 400 cases after taking 16 months to reach 200 from the start of the pandemic. The infection rate in the county is up to 5.65%.

Hospitalizations continue to remain high statewide. The Monday OHA report noted there were more than 1,100 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in Oregon. Hospitals continue to be near, or in some cases at, their maximum capacity. Just over 300 out of more than 4,200 beds in Oregon are available, and 39 out of 671 ICU beds are available.

Region 9, which includes Wallowa County, has come down from its record of COVID-19 hospitalizations, which was 35 on Aug. 25. On Aug. 30, the number was at 27.

The number of vaccinations in the county also has increased, as now 62% of Wallowa County residents 18 and older, and 51.9% overall, have had at least one shot of a vaccine. OHA data shows 107 people were newly vaccinated from Aug. 15-29, and from Aug. 2-29, that number is at 194 people. More than 3,700 people in Wallowa County have received a dose of the vaccine.

Below are the reported dates of key COVID-19 numbers in Wallowa County dating back to the start of the pandemic. The county has reported 405 cases since the start of the pandemic, with 166 of those coming during August. The amount of time between the dates is also included.

First case: April 8, 2020

50th case: Oct. 30, 2020 (205 days)

100th case: Jan. 26, 2021 (88 days)

150th case: April 2, 2021 (66 days)

200th case: July 19, 2021 (108 days)

250th case: Aug. 5, 2021 (17 days)

300th case: Aug. 17, 2021 (12 days)

350th case: Aug. 24, 2021 (seven days)

400th case: Aug. 30, 2021 (six days)

Source: Oregon Health Authority

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