COVID-19 has claimed 54 more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 1,214 the Oregon Health Authority reported Tuesday.
OHA reported 1,129 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19, bringing the state total to 96,092.
OHA attributes the record-high death count to the rising case count that surged last month. It takes some time to process the counting of death certificates because they’re determined by physicians and then sent to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for review before cause of death is ultimately determined.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 544 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide with 112 COVID-19 patients in ICU beds.
Oregon hospitals plan to administer the first COVID-19 vaccines to health care workers on Wednesday.
