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The Oregon Health Authority on Wednesday revealed 731 new cases of the coronavirus and 20 other deaths as state officials said they would stop providing detailed summaries of the deaths.
State officials throughout the pandemic have disclosed basic biographical information for each death related to COVID-19, including a person’s age, county, place of death, date of death. a positive test for the coronavirus, the date of death and the general presence of underlying health problems.
But without warning, the agency said it would end, effective Wednesday, as it had become too onerous for state epidemiologists who have been providing this information daily for 10 months.
The abrupt change comes as housekeeper Kate Brown faces criticism for her decision to prioritize teacher immunizations over the elderly, who account for the vast majority of deaths in Oregon. Ending the detailed descriptions of the deaths will make it difficult to know precisely how many Oregon seniors test positive for the coronavirus and then die during the time that Brown allowed teachers to receive vaccines before the elderly.
Instead, the state on Wednesday unveiled a new data dashboard that includes summary details of the underlying health conditions of those who have died with COVID-19. This is something the agency previously refused to disclose at the request of The Oregonian / OregonLive five months ago, saying the data was not useful and created confusion when it was previously released.
Robb Cowie, a spokesperson for the Oregon Health Authority, said the decision to stop reporting detailed information on the deaths is “a capacity issue” for state officials and insisted that the newly created data page, with a “composite image, is ultimately more revealing.”
On its last day of detailed reporting, Oregon revealed the death of a 27-year-old Hood River County woman with no underlying health issue, who died Jan. 23 at Oregon Health & Science University.
This level of detail will be whitewashed in the future. The death would be listed online as a person between the ages of 20 and 29, with no way of knowing the county, gender, date of a positive coronavirus test, date of death, if the person died at home or in the hospital, or if the person had any underlying health problems.
Oregon will only disclose deaths aggregated by age group, county, and gender.
“Every death from COVID-19 represents a loss, especially for those who knew them best – families, friends and loved ones,” Patrick Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority, said in a statement. “That’s why we listed each case.”
Now, the state will release aggregate death data as well as an overview of the underlying health issues and symptoms among those who died, including the number of people who died in and outside collective care facilities by date. .
“This dashboard gives the public a clearer picture of the collective toll of the virus,” Allen said. “But that will never diminish the importance of every Oregonian who is no longer with us.”
It is not known how many states, if any, have provided detailed summaries of each death throughout the pandemic. Cowie said sharing that level of detail on a daily basis is time consuming and essentially requires dedicating a full-time position digging through an online database collecting the information for publication.
Amid record deaths in December and January, state officials faced challenges providing timely information. They sometimes delayed the release of full death summaries until late at night, when the daily death toll reached dozens.
Officials had been considering a change for months, when deaths still numbered in the hundreds, but chose to announce it ahead of the 2,000 death milestone.
State officials began providing detailed information on the first death on March 14. compromise patient privacy. “
Asked Wednesday about the health authority’s decision to stop sharing detailed summaries of the deaths, Brown’s office did not respond.
Where new cases are by county: Baker (4), Benton (8), Clackamas (67), Clatsop (4), Columbia (8), Coos (9), Crook (7), Deschutes (24), Douglas (9), Harney (1), Hood River (5), Jackson (35), Jefferson (7), Josephine (16), Klamath (13), Lake (2), Lane (52), Lincoln (3), Linn (21), Malheur (17) , Marion (115), Morrow (5), Multnomah (118), Polk (21), Tillamook (1), Umatilla (30), Union (3), Wasco (2), Washington (106) and Yamhill (18) .
The prevalence of infections: The state reported 806 new positive tests out of 17,604 tests performed, a positive rate of 4.6%.
Who was infected: New confirmed and suspected infections increased in the following age groups: 0-9 years (36); 10-19 (82); 20-29 (153); 30-39 (101); 40-49 (125); 50-59 (90); 60-69 (61); 70-79 (37); 80 years and over (24).
Who is in the hospital: The state reported 302 Oregonians with confirmed coronavirus infections in hospital on Wednesday, six fewer than Tuesday. Of those, 74 coronavirus patients were in intensive care units, four more than Tuesday.
Vaccines: Oregon reported that 340,369 doses of the vaccine were given, or about 57% of the doses received. Oregon reported 14,896 newly administered doses, including 10,943 on Tuesday and the rest of the days prior.
Since he started: Oregon has reported 140,063 confirmed or suspected infections and 1,924 deaths, among the lowest per capita figures in the country. To date, the state has reported 3,122,704 lab reports from testing.
– Brad Schmidt; [email protected]; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt
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