Deaths continue to increase in Oregon from COVID-19, with the state setting a record daily high Tuesday.
The Oregon Health Authority said it confirmed 21 deaths to the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing total deaths statewide since the pandemic began to 847.
“Each death we record is a reminder that COVID-19 is a life-threatening virus that’s easy to catch, a warning that more Oregonians will die if we don’t contain it, and a call to action to stop its spread,” Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen said in a statement.
Most of the newly recorded deaths involved people who were at least 70 years old, a 33-year-old Marion County man also died. It was not immediately clear if he had underlying health conditions.
Medical assistant Hunter Hermansen, center, registers people waiting to take a COVID-19 test at OHSU's drive-through testing site at the Oregon Convention Center, Nov. 20, 2020, in Portland, Ore. A recent spike in cases and the upcoming holidays have led to increased wait times at testing facilities.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
In Tuesday’s report, the Oregon Health Authority also reported 1,011 new confirmed and presumed cases of COVID-19. The state has consistently been recording more than 1,000 cases a day since the middle of last week — a concerning uptick in the unchecked spread of COVID-19 as some people plan to gather for Thanksgiving.
Health officials are also closely tracking hospital bed capacity statewide. The number of hospitalized patients is still increasing — and 113 people are currently in intensive care units in Oregon.
Officials are asking people to follow COVID-19 guidelines by wearing masks in public, practicing social distancing, and avoiding group gatherings. Oregon is currently under a “freeze” order from the governor, which discourages people from gathering in groups of more than six people from two different households.