This week we reported a 10.4% test positivity rate for COVID-19, which indicates ongoing high community transmission in Oregon, based on data reported to health officials during the week ending Jan. 6.
“The continued high amount of spread of COVID-19 in Oregon is made clear to us in the fact that many of us have recently been sick or know of someone close to us who has been sick with COVID-19,” said Dean Sidelinger, M.D., M.S.Ed., health officer and state epidemiologist at OHA. “The good news is that the same safety measures we’ve practiced throughout the pandemic to protect us from severe illness will also protect us now. Top of that list is getting vaccinated with the 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine.”
Test percent positivity reflects the portion of a sample of COVID-19 test results (performed in health care settings, not at home) that are positive. Several Oregon laboratories submit test results to public health, and OHA publishes the data.
Over time, test percent positivity has proven to be an extremely accurate measure of COVID-19 community transmission, correlating with wastewater surveillance data that Oregon collects and reports weekly. Both tools can be found on our Respiratory Virus Data homepage.
Recent COVID-19 transmission is driven by Omicron subvariants, and no new subvariant is predicted to cause more severe disease. While Omicron JN.1 has recently become the predominant subvariant circulating in Oregon and across the country, there is no evidence it causes more severe disease.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19-associated hospitalization rate in Oregon has remained stable over recent weeks, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicting continued stability in Oregon through January.
Influenza and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus)
Based on data reported during the week ending Jan. 6:
- Influenza community transmission in Oregon remains high with a percent positivity of 10.5%, down from 11.4% the week prior. The CDC predicts a steady increase in flu-associated hospitalizations in Oregon through the third week in January. Keep up on flu activity in Oregon by subscribing to OHA’s weekly FluBites data report here.
- RSV community transmission in Oregon also remains high but has decreased for the second week in a row, with a percent positivity of 11.1%.
Safety measures that protect us from COVID-19 will also protect us from the flu and RSV.
- Getting immunized against COVID-19, the flu and RSV (for young infants, older Oregonians and pregnant people).
- Stay home if you are sick – until you are feeling better.
- Cover your coughs and wash your hands often.
- For those at increased risk of severe disease or who live with someone who is at higher risk for severe disease, OHA recommends considering masking indoors when respiratory virus transmission is high, as it is now.
- Plan ahead. Anyone at high risk for complications from respiratory illnesses should plan ahead to get tested, should they develop symptoms for COVID-19 or the flu (which present similarly). If they test positive, OHA recommends asking their health care provider about getting antiviral treatments for either of those respiratory illnesses. Although it is not necessary to test positive for COVID-19 or the flu to qualify for antiviral medication, we recommend people speak with their health care provider in advance to understand how they would proceed should symptoms develop. The CDC offers this checklist for making a COVID-19 plan.