Although the rate of new COVID-19 cases in Baker County has dropped to its lowest level in more than three months, the county will remain at the high risk level at least through May 27, Baker County Commissioner Mark Bennett said Wednesday, May 19.

That includes the most severe restrictions on business and events, since the extreme risk level is no longer an option for any counties.

In counties at high risk, restaurants and bars can have indoor dining up to 25% of capacity or 50 total people, including diners and employees.

Bennett said that although the county’s number of cases over the most recent two-week measuring period — 40 cases from May 2-15 — would move the county down to the moderate risk level, the county’s test positivity rate, at 8.9%, keeps the county at high risk. To drop to moderate risk the positivity rate would have to drop below 8%.

Bennett said he has asked the Oregon Health Authority why it still uses test positivity rates to determine risk levels, given that far fewer people are being tested compared with the winter and early spring. Baker County’s weekly test total dropped from 236 from May 2-8, to 146 tests from May 9-15. Bennett said that as of Wednesday morning he had not received a response.

The state sets risk levels based on two weeks of data. Baker’s numbers dropped substantially for the latter of the two weeks, however — from 27 cases between May 2-8, to 12 from May 9-15. For the 10-day period May 9-18, the county had 15 new cases, the fewest in a 10-day period since Feb. 4-13, when there were 13 new cases.