COVID-19 Cases Continue to Decline in Oregon

The declines are expected to continue in coming weeks.

reopening Handshake at a June 30 reopening ceremony at Providence Park. (Wesley Lapointe) (Wesley Lapointe)
By Rachel Monahan

COVID-19 cases continue to decline in Oregon, even as the nation is seeing a slight uptick.

For the week ending July 4, Oregon recorded a 13% decrease in the number of cases. There were 1,189 new cases of COVID-19 statewide in a week, the Oregon Health Authority says.

The percentage of tests coming back positive also declined from 3.2% to 2.9%, suggesting the decline was not about the number of tests administered (more were).

The decline continues a trend of the average weekly COVID cases declining or staying relatively flat since late April, and OHA projects cases will continue to decline in the coming weeks.

Gov. Kate Brown officially opened the state on June 30, before the state had achieved her target of 70% of adults with at least a first dose of the vaccine. By last Friday, July 2, the Oregon Health Authority had declared the state had hit those targets, and by this week, the federal data kept by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that, indeed, more than 70% of Oregonians age 18 and up have had at least one dose.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia have hit that benchmark, which President Joe Biden had set as a benchmark for the nation as a whole by July 4. In all, 67% of Americans age 18 and up (and 55% of the population overall) have had a dose, The New York Times reports. But as with much else in the pandemic, vaccinations have been a partisan affair. Only states that voted for Biden have hit the 70% benchmark.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.