A COVID-19 particle is pictured in this image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC/CONTRIBUTED PHOTO]

Baker County had more COVID-19 cases during the first half of August than in all but two whole months since the pandemic started.

From Aug. 1-15, the county reported 146 cases, including a weekly record of 84 from Aug. 8-14, said Nancy Staten, director of the Baker County Health Department.

That surpassed the previous one-week record of 68 cases from July 25-31.

Even with help from the Oregon Health Authority, the surge in cases is making it a challenge for the county to investigate cases, Staten said.

In a Thursday, Aug. 12 press release, Dr. Eric Lamb, the county’s public health officer, said “we are seeing a spike in cases and hospitalizations that threatens to overwhelm hospital capacity.”

The highest number of cases in any month was 196, in December 2020. That was the last month in which vaccines weren’t available throughout the month (vaccines became available in mid-December).

The second-highest total was in April 2021, with 162 cases.

The numbers dropped significantly thereafter, to 51 during May — the fewest since September 2020. There was a slight increase to 70 cases during June, but the daily rate dropped again during the first three weeks or so of July.

But the trend reversed starting with the final week of July, with the then-record of 68 cases.

Due to a backlog of case investigations, Staten said she doesn’t have data for August regarding breakthrough cases — fully vaccinated people who test positive for COVID-19 — or an age group breakdown of cases.

Those statistics are available through July, however.

Breakthrough cases

According to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), Baker County has had 15 breakthrough cases through July 31.

That represents 2.3% of the county’s total cases — 647 — recorded from Jan. 1, a week or so before the first county residents were fully vaccinated, through July 31.

Based on OHA reports, the rate of breakthrough cases has risen recently as the more contagious delta variant became the predominant coronavirus strain.

The agency’s most recent report showed that 19% of cases statewide during July were in fully vaccinated residents. That report did not list how many of Baker County’s 15 total breakthrough cases happened during July.

Of the 55 COVID-19-related deaths in Oregon during July, 82% were people who weren’t vaccinated, according to OHA.

Age breakdown

The largest share of Baker County cases during July — 27.6% — were people in their 20s, according to the Health Department.

That age group has the third-lowest vaccination rate in the county, at 30.7% (statewide, 60.2% of residents from age 20 to 29 are vaccinated, according to OHA).

The second-lowest vaccination rate is among the 30-39 age range, at 30.4%. The lowest is 12- to 17-year-olds, who have been eligible only since May. Their vaccination rate is 19.5%. The rate among 18- and 19-year-olds is 39%.

The two age groups with the highest vaccination rates in Baker County — 80 and older, at 68.4%, and 70 to 79 years, at 65.8% — accounted for 6.8% of the county’s cases during July.

Lamb blamed Baker County’s vaccination rate for the surge in cases in the Aug. 12 press release.

The county’s vaccination rate of 47.7% among residents 18 and older ranks eighth-lowest among Oregon’s 36 counties. The statewide average is 70.2%.

The rest of the July age group breakdown in Baker County, along with vaccination rates.

• 40 to 49 years, 19%

Vaccination rate in Baker County, 40.2%; statewide, 69.6%

• 50 to 59 years, 13.8%

Vaccination rate in Baker County, 42.7%; statewide, 70%

• 60 to 69 years, 12.9%

Vaccination rate in Baker County, 53.2%; statewide, 75.8%

• 30 to 39 years, 12%

Vaccination rate in Baker County, 30.4%; statewide, 66.3%

• 10 to 19 years, 7%

Vaccination rate in Baker County, 23.3%; statewide, 52.8%

• 70 to 79, 4.3%

Vaccination rate in Baker County, 65.8%; statewide, 84.9%

• Ages 80 and older, 2.5%

Vaccination rate in Baker County, 68.4%; statewide, 78.6%

• Ages 5 to 9, 0.9%

(Not eligible for vaccines)

Staten said that although she doesn’t have final statistics for the county for the first half of August, preliminary data show that the largest percentage of new cases this month are among people in their 30s.