KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Klamath County Public Health (KCPH) officials report 78 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases is now 3,843.
There are 38 cases to date this week.
On Saturday, there were 37 new cases assigned to the county and one transferred from another county to Klamath County. Cases are assigned to the county of residence. Another two cases were after-hours additions Friday night. In the week that concluded Saturday, Klamath County had a total of 315 new COVID-19 cases.
“With cases surging again, it is imperative that local residents seek vaccination,” said KCPH Director Jennifer Little. “There are so many opportunities to be conveniently vaccinated. Gov. Brown was clear last week that for the state to move beyond the current numbers and back to a more normal experience more people must be vaccinated.”
Last week was a possible movement week in risk levels, but there had not been 300 statewide hospitalizations. The previous two-week case numbers would have moved Klamath County into “extreme” risk. Sunday’s statewide hospitalizations numbered 291, with 66 COVID-19 cases in intensive care units.
During a press conference Friday, Gov. Brown said, “We will analyze the data again early next week to see which counties may need to roll back into Extreme Risk. If the data indicates it is necessary, in light of this crisis I am cancelling the warning week and those counties will move into Extreme Risk starting next Friday, April 30. This is not a step I take lightly. However, this could be the last time we need to impose this level of restrictions given our vaccination trends and the virus’s behavior.”
It is possible that Klamath County will return to “extreme risk” on Friday.
Statewide, and Klamath County-specific, metrics now are:
KCPH provides a weekly news release on Mondays, allowing for a recap of the previous week and information about risk levels. Daily updates will continue via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KCPublicHealth, and at https://www.publichealth.klamathcounty.org/coronavirus.
Information from Oregon Health Authority can be found at https://www.oregon.gov/oha/erd/pages/covid-19-news.aspx and https://public.tableau.com/profile/oregon.health.authority.covid.19#!/#!%2F.
