Oregon’s COVID-19 Case Count Has Grown Tenfold in Two Weeks

The largest portion of cases are among people ages 50-59.

The Broadway Bridge, free from traffic. (Rocky Burnside)

Oregon's COVID-19 case count has increased tenfold since March 17. Two weeks ago, there were 65 cases statewide. Today there are 690, the Oregon Health Authority announced Tuesday afternoon.

Eighty-four more people statewide tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and two more have died, bringing deaths statewide to 18.

Today's deaths were of a 90-year-old Yamhill County man and an 88-year-old Benton County woman. Both people had underlying medical conditions.

To date, 154 of the state's cases, or 22 percent, have resulted in hospitalizations, according to data from OHA. Currently, 40 of the state's COVID-19 patients are on ventilators.

While the elderly and people with compromised immune systems are more likely to have complications from contracting COVID-19, Oregon's case count is spread out among age groups: 72 cases are people ages 20-29, 96 cases are of people ages 30-39 and 130 cases are people ages 40-49. The largest portion of the state's cases—135 of them—are among people ages 50-59.

Washington County still has the highest case count statewide, with 186 cases, followed by Marion County with 141 and Multnomah County with 116.

While the increased case count may seem sudden, it's due in part to increased testing, much of it through commercial laboratories—which have much higher outputs than the state's testing lab in Hillsboro. To date, over 13,000 Oregon residents have been tested for the coronavirus.

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