Facing Pressure, the Oregon Health Authority Releases More Detailed Data About the COVID-19 Outbreak

The data shows the largest share of the state’s cases are among people ages 60 to 69.

Downtown Portland on March 22, 2020. (Aaron Wessling)

Facing pressure from local newsrooms, including WW and The Oregonian, the Oregon Health Authority on Wednesday released more detailed information about the COVID-19 outbreak, and the state's capacity to grapple with it.

The state announced it still has available 394 intensive care beds, 2,028 non-ICU beds and 608 ventilators, needed for patients rendered critically ill by COVID-19 and unable to breathe on their own.

It's still not clear what percentage of ICU beds and ventilators are in use, but it doesn't appear hospitals are yet nearing capacity.

Of the 266 COVID-19 cases announced to date, 75 of those patients were hospitalized and 135 were not. For 56 of those cases, hospital information was not provided, 142 are women, 123 are men, and one is unidentified.

The first patient was hospitalized for COVID-19 on Feb. 13—far earlier than previously reported—and hospital visits for "COVID-like" symptoms have increased steadily since.

Prior to today, the OHA provided broad age ranges of those infected, with the biggest number of cases being among people age 55 and older—an extremely broad category. Now, the organization has broken down ages of COVID-19 cases by decade.

The data shows the largest share of the state's cases are among people ages 60 to 69. But nearly as many in their 40s are experiencing symptoms severe enough to be tested—and test positive.

0-19: 5
20-29: 15
30-39: 32
40-49: 55
50-59: 42
60-69: 57
70-79: 34
80+: 25
Unknown: 1

So far, 10 people have died statewide from COVID-19, the Oregon Health Authority announced Wednesday. Here are how the deaths break down by age, gender, date of death, testing date and county:

  • A 70-year-old Multnomah County man tested positive March 10 and died March 14.
  • A 60-year-old woman in Lane County died March 14 and later tested positive March 17. She had underlying medical conditions.
  • A 71-year-old Washington County man tested positive March 16 and died March 17. He had underlying medical conditions.
  • A 72-year-old woman in Marion County tested positive March 15 and died March 20.
  • A Linn County man in his 90s tested positive March 11 and died March 22 at the Oregon Veterans Home. He had underlying medical conditions.
  • A 73-year-old woman in Marion County tested positive March 22 and died March 23.  She had underlying medical conditions.
  • A 78-year-old Clackamas County man tested positive March 15 and died March 22.
  • A 63-year-old Multnomah County man died March 23.
  • A 90-year old Washington County woman tested positive March 19 and died March 23.
  • An 80-year-old woman in Clackamas County tested positive March 23 and died March 24. She had underlying medical conditions.

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