Tuesday marked yet another grave milestone in the pandemic for Oregon. The state health authority announced 14 new deaths, a single-day record that launched Oregon’s death toll to more than 300 people.
The announcement came just a day after the state had zero new deaths on the books.
“As we surpass 300 deaths related to COVID-19, including the 14 deaths reported today, I wish to extend sincere condolences on behalf of everyone at OHA to the families who have lost a loved one to this disease,” Oregon Health Authority director Patrick Allen said in a press release. “It is a stark reminder of the work all Oregonians need to do to bring this pandemic under control. Together we can slow this disease and prevent this terrible loss of life.”
The OHA also reported 342 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 Tuesday. The largest shares of that total came from Umatilla and Multnomah counties with 75 and 74 new cases, respectively.
Some of Oregon’s largest school districts announced Tuesday that they won’t reopen for in-person instruction until at least November.
Gov. Kate Brown announced coronavirus testing benchmarks counties would have to meet for schools to reopen Tuesday afternoon. Almost immediately, a cascade of press releases from Oregon school districts hit email inboxes. Portland Public Schools, Salem-Keizer, Beaverton, North Clackamas and Tigard-Tualatin all say they’ll start the school year online. Chemawa Indian School, the boarding school for Native American students outside Salem, announced its remote learning plan earlier in the week.
Oregon will require a combination of two metrics (with limited exceptions) for schools to reopen:
The latest guidelines are subject to change.
Clark County reported 37 additional coronavirus cases Tuesday and no new deaths. Since the start of the pandemic, 1,680 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus in the county and 37 have died.
The latest available data from the Washington Department of Health shows 54,205 cumulative cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and 1,548 deaths.
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