The Number of COVID Patients in Oregon Hospital Beds Nearly Doubled in Two Weeks

As the virus spreads across the state, severe cases that require hospitalization spike.

Aboard the Portland Streetcar. (Wesley Lapointe)
By Latisha Jensen

In the span of two weeks, the number of COVID patients on ventilators and occupying hospital beds has nearly doubled.

On Monday, Nov. 9, there were 269 COVID patients in Oregon's hospitals. Today that number is 456. In that same span, the number of Oregon patients in intensive care beds also nearly doubled, from 55 to 109.

(Oregon Health Authority)

As Thanksgiving approaches this week, many fear that holiday travel will worsen the already rising case count that has practically doubled hospitalizations.

In those same two weeks, the region where Multnomah County is located (along with five other counties) saw the COVID hospital patient count grow significantly from 145 to 249—the highest number since April.

Gov. Kate Brown ordered a statewide "freeze" to discourage gatherings on Thanksgiving in attempt to control the virus and the surging hospital cases and ICU patients. Temporarily, dine-in service at restaurant and bars is limited to takeout, among other restrictions.

It's unclear how effective the threat will be, but Gov. Brown said she's willing to use law enforcement to break up parties if people insist on gathering in large numbers for Thanksgiving.

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