Once Again, More Than 5% of Oregon Tests for COVID-19 Came Back Positive

Oregon is still not meeting the statewide criteria for reopening schools.

A junk pile in Southeast Portland. (Alex Wittwer)
By Rachel Monahan

Since July, when Gov. Kate Brown announced criteria for school reopenings, Oregon has yet to meet the statewide criteria she established: no more than 5% of tests coming back positive for COVID-19 in a single week.

Brown is requiring the state to meet that criteria for three weeks in a row, and the state has not achieved that metric even once since June 27.

For the last two weeks, the positivity has hovered just above 5%.  This week's testing summary shows 5.4% of tests came back positive in the past week. The previous week's figures showed 5.2% of tests came back positive.

Individual counties must also remain below the 5% positivity rate, as well as have no more than 30 new cases per 100,000 people for each of the previous three weeks for a full reopening. (Only one county, as of Aug. 8, currently meets the criteria for a full reopening: Wheeler.)

This week, the state revealed plans to increase testing capacity. Oregon still lacks sufficient tests across the state.

"Laboratories are reporting that allocations for most COVID-19 test manufacturers cannot keep up with the demand and are consequently sending specimens to outside labs for testing," the weekly testing report states. "Approximately 20% of specimens in Oregon were sent out of state for testing last week due to these restraints."

But the Oregon Health Authority reported an agreement with a company to increase testing supplies.

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