Oregon Again Has 155 People Hospitalized for COVID-19, a Sharp Increase From Two Weeks Ago

There are now 155 Oregonians hospitalized for COVID-19, the highest number in more than a month.

In announcing that number, the Oregon Health Authority cautioned that daily numbers of cases and hospitalizations fluctuate—but just over two weeks ago, on March 14, hospitalizations were at their lowest since September, with 100 COVID patients.

It was more than a month ago, on Feb. 26, that there were this many Oregonians (156) with COVID in the hospital. The high for patients with confirmed cases in Oregon hospitals was on Nov. 30—with 584 people hospitalized with COVID-19 that day. That number more or less steadily declined since the beginning of the year, until about two weeks ago.

Hospitalizations often lag behind cases. And cases have risen. On March 6, the  average number of daily cases for the previous seven days was 349. As of April 1, it was 392, with 521 cases reported today.

The increases in cases and hospitalizations come as more than a million Oregonians have had one dose of the vaccine, and more than 700,000 have been fully vaccinated.

Increasing cases are part of a national trend, as states continue to reopen and new and potentially more contagious variants spread. So far, Oregon has not seen the spikes hammering other parts of the country, including Michigan, New York and New Jersey.

And Oregon's rise in cases comes as the state has reported few cases of contagious variants.

As of April 1, OHA has reported 19 cases of B.1.1.7 (also known as the U.K. variant) and one case of P.1 (also know as the Brazilian variant). The Oregon Health Authority announced April 1 the number of variants that it is releasing data on would be updated April 2, to follow new federal guidance on which variants are of concern.

Public health experts have urged continuing caution as they race to get vaccines to people.