The Oregon Health Authority reported nine new cases of COVID-19 in Wallowa County over the last two days — five on Tuesday, Oct. 12, and four on Wednesday, Oct. 13. The OHA website has the county’s overall total now at 661. There were no new fatalities among the cases, keeping the total at 12. 

The nine cases so far this week come on the heels of 49 cases reported during the previous week and 69 during the first 10 days of October.

On the vaccination front, the county is up to a rate of 65.7% of individuals 18 and older who have been vaccinated, a total of 3,785 who have received a vaccine. Of those, 3,523 have completed a series, or been fully vaccinated. Of the total population, the count is 55.4%, or 3,966 people, and of those, 3,669 have a full series of shots. The county is 16th in the state in terms of 18 and older vaccination rate, and 17th in the total population, though it is below the statewide percentage in both.

Statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations, as of the OHA’s Wednesday report, are at 595, about half of what it was at the peak of the late-summer spike. In the ICU, there are 145 patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

In Region 9, which less than a week ago peaked with 43 COVID-19 hospitalizations, the number has dropped to 22 as of Wednesday morning. Region 9 contains six eastern Oregon counties, including Wallowa County.