Nancy Staten

The rate of new COVID-19 cases in Baker County during the first week of October was down by about half compared with the record-setting pace in September.

The percentage of breakthrough cases — infections in people who are fully vaccinated — has more than doubled since mid-September.

But Nancy Staten, director of the Baker County Health Department, pointed out that vaccinated people who do test positive are much less likely to have severe symptoms or to require hospital treatment.

“Vaccine is still our best tool,” Staten said on Friday morning, Oct. 8.

For the first seven days of October, the county reported 51 new cases, an average of 7.3 per day.

September’s total was 465 cases, a daily average of 15.5.

The previous records were both set in August, with 300 total cases and an average of almost 10 per day.

After two consecutive record-setting weeks, with 128 cases from Sept. 5-11 and 139 cases from Sept. 12-18, the county’s weekly total dropped in two straight weeks, to 86 from Sept. 19-25, and to 69 from Sept. 26-Oct. 2.

With two days left, the current week, Oct. 3-9, was on pace to make it three consecutive weekly declines in total cases.

“It looks better than it did a few weeks ago,” Staten said.

During September, 23 of the 30 days had at least 10 cases, including eight days with more than 21 cases.

Two of the first seven days of October had double-digit cases — 10 on Oct. 4, and 18 on Oct. 6.

From the start of the pandemic through Thursday, Oct. 7, Baker County has reported 1,940 cases. That’s about 11.5% of the county’s population.

County’s 26th and 27th COVID-related deaths

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported on Friday afternoon, Oct. 8, that two Baker County residents had died in the past week after testing positive for COVID-19.

A 70-year-old Baker County woman died on Oct. 5, after testing positive on Sept. 23.

The presence of underlying medical conditions hadn’t been confirmed.

A 71-year-old man from Baker County died Oct. 4 at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington. He tested positive on Sept. 21, and had underlying conditions.

The deaths were the 26th and 27th during the pandemic in Baker County, and the first two in October.

Breakthrough cases

Baker County’s rate of infections in fully vaccinated people had been much lower than the statewide average during most of the surge in cases, driven by the more contagious delta variant, that started in late July.

Breakthrough cases accounted for 10% of total cases in Baker County during August, compared with about 18.6% statewide.

That trend continued through the first half of September.

For the week Sept. 12-18, for instance, Baker County’s breakthrough case percentage was 10.8% — 15 of 139 cases that week.

Statewide, breakthrough cases accounted for 23.6% of total cases that week — 2,821 of 11,968 cases.

But for the next week, Sept. 19-25, Baker County’s breakthrough cases were 20.9% of the total — 18 of 86. That’s only slightly below the statewide figure of 21.6% for that week.

During the most recent week for which statistics are available, Sept. 26-Oct. 2, Baker County had 16 breakthrough cases out of a total of 69 cases — a rate of 23.2%, the highest weekly rate the county has recorded.

Oregon’s overall breakthrough case percentage also rose that week, to 24.4% — 2,542 of 10,411 cases.

Staten said Dr. Eric Lamb, the county’s public health officer, said it’s to be expected that the number of breakthrough cases will rise as more county residents are vaccinated — breakthrough cases, by definition, can only be in fully vaccinated people.

But although the goal is to reduce cases overall, both in vaccinated and unvaccinated people, Staten said statistics showing that the vast majority of people who have breakthrough infections have minor symptoms or none at all, is encouraging.

According to the most recent breakthrough report from the OHA released Thursday, Oct. 7, of the state’s breakthrough cases, 4.5% have been hospitalized — a total of 1,263 people — and 0.8%, a total of 237 people, have died.

Age breakdown

Residents younger than 50 continue to account for a majority of Baker County’s cases.

During September, 65.5% of cases were in residents younger than 50, compared with 61.4% from Aug. 16-31.

The age groups with the largest share of cases during September were 10-19 years, with 19.4%, and people in their 30s, with 17.1%.

Those two age groups have lower vaccination rates than other groups of county residents.

The vaccination rate among residents ages 12-19 (those younger than 11 are not yet eligible to be inoculated) is 28.4%. The statewide rate for that age group is 61.5%.

The 30-39 age group has the second-lowest vaccination rate in the county, at 35.3%. The statewide vaccination rate for that age range is 73.6%.

Residents 70 and older, who have much higher vaccination rates, accounted for 12.5% of the county’s cases during September, and about 11.5% during August.

The vaccination rate for Baker County residents ages 70 to 79 is 68.5%, compared to a statewide average of 88.2% for that age group.

For residents 80 and older, the vaccination rate in Baker County is 70.5%, compared with a statewide rate of 80.7%.