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The first Oregonian to die from COVID-19 was a 70-year-old Multnomah County man who died March 14 at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The 2,000th person to die from the virus was a 90-year-old Yamhill County woman who died Feb. 2 in her home.
In between, Oregonians have died from the virus who've hailed from all but one of the state's 36 counties. (That lucky locale is Sherman County, a sparsely populated spot on the eastern edge of the Columbia River Gorge.)
Oregon's COVID-19 death toll reached 2,002 after five new fatalities were announced Friday afternoon.
Nearly a quarter of Oregon's 2,002 deaths—481 of them—were in Multnomah County, which contains Portland. The pace of fatalities sped up significantly in the fall and winter, when holiday gatherings aided transmission of the virus. New cases and deaths have declined in 2021—although not as quickly as they accelerated.
In remarks to the press Friday afternoon, Gov. Kate Brown lamented "a grim milestone" and expressed sympathy for grieving families.
"Almost a year after COVID-19 arrived in Oregon," Brown added, "I can also say that we are fortunately faring better than almost every other state in the country with regards to infection and mortality rates. Oregon currently has the fourth- lowest infection rate and mortality rate in the nation. On the vaccine front, we are ranked 12th in the nation for getting shots in arms."
Oregon has now administered a cumulative total of 509,582 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines—to nursing home residents, health care workers and teachers. People 80 years and older will become eligible for vaccinations on Monday, Feb. 8.
Oregon Health Authority director Pat Allen has warned lawmakers of potential "chaos" when seniors become eligible, but Brown sounded a somewhat more hopeful note. She announced that President Joe Biden has notified states of a 20% increase in their vaccine doses.
"We are still managing a scarce resource," she said. "There is not enough vaccine yet to give everyone who is eligible a shot when they're ready. But our phased approach of incrementally adding in seniors each week will help avoid some of the nightmares seen in other states when seniors became eligible all at once."