The number of Lincoln County COVID-19 cases in August jumps to 551, double the number of the worst month in all of last year

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com

The number of COVID-19 cases this month in Lincoln County has skyrocketed to 551 as of Wednesday and by the end of August will likely be more than double the highest month since the pandemic began 20 months ago.

That was the grim prognosis presented to Lincoln County Commissioners on Wednesday by interim health department director Florence Pourtal.

“We’re seeing an increase across the board for all ages,” Pourtal said.

In the 20 months since the pandemic began, the highest month for COVID-19 cases in the county was June 2020 when there was a massive outbreak at Pacific Seafood in Newport.

Now the county is seeing 30-70 new cases a day and already has five times the number in all of July.

This is due to the Delta variant, which spreads much easier — even by people who are fully vaccinated.

Statistics from the health department showed that of 526 cases between July 4 and Aug. 21, three percent – or 17 – were hospitalized. More than 70 percent of those were unvaccinated, Pourtal said Wednesday.

Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 – although small compared with other parts of Oregon – numbered seven on Wednesday, Pourtal said, “the highest we’ve seen in Lincoln County.”

On Wednesday, the two Samaritan Health Systems hospitals in the county reported that nine of its 10 intensive care units were filled – and that five of those were COVID-19 patients. It had also admitted two other COVID-19 patients.

Samaritan said of the 26 beds at Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport, 25 of 26 inpatient beds were occupied; at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital in Lincoln City, 13 of 16 inpatient beds were full.

All were Lincoln County residents, Pourtal told commissioners.

Two more county residents who had tested positive for COVID-19 have died, the Oregon Health Authority announced this week.

On Monday the agency said a 49-year-old woman who tested positive Aug. 9 died Aug. 19 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend in Springfield. She had underlying conditions. On Wednesday, the agency said an 82-year-old woman who tested positive Aug. 17 died Aug. 23 at Albany General Hospital.

Pourtal also said:

• The county is working with the Lincoln County School District to offer vaccination clinics at some of its schools when classes resume Sept. 7. Youngsters older than 12 are eligible for a vaccine; children 15 and older do not need parental permission to get a vaccine.
• The health department and its medical partners – everyone from fire departments to Samaritan to other health care providers – are beginning to make plans for clinics in the fall to offer booster shots to eligible people.
• The county is expanding regular small vaccination clinics as fast as staffing allows and opportunities to present themselves. More than 75 percent of county residents age 12 and older have been vaccinated, one of the highest rates in the state.
• The positivity rate of COVID-19 tests in the county has dropped to 10.7 percent. That’s lower than the state average of 12.2 percent but more than double “as the number we’d like to see,” she said.

In other coronavirus-related developments Wednesday:

• The Lincoln County School District announced the cancellation of sports jamborees scheduled Thursday and Friday in Newport, Toledo and Lincoln City and that Newport High School has cancelled a 12-team volleyball tournament scheduled Saturday at the high school in an effort to minimize contact between multiple teams.
• In its weekly outbreak report, the OHA reported an outbreak of nine COVID-19 cases at Pacific Seafood in Newport, the site of the county’s largest workplace outbreak in 2020.
• Samaritan Health announced much tighter restrictions at all of its hospitals and clinics effective Wednesday, including no visitors in outpatient departments except when accompanying a child, when visiting a pediatric or labor and delivery patient, if someone is dying or if assisting a disabled patient. Patients are also asked to come alone to clinics or doctors’ offices.