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

Two more Baker County residents have died after testing positive for COVID-19, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported this week.

A 62-year-old Baker County man died Dec. 1, after testing positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 16, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported on Wednesday, Dec. 8.

(OHA initially misstated the person’s gender as female.)

And the state agency reported on Friday, Dec. 10 that a 67-year-old Baker County man had died Dec. 7 at Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise after testing positive on Nov. 17. He had underlying medical conditions.

OHA has not confirmed whether the woman had underlying medical conditions. The agency did not report whether she died in a hospital or elsewhere.

They are the 34th and 35th county residents to die after testing positive for the virus, and the first two deaths during December.

Omicron variant surveillance

Baker City is one of 40 Oregon cities where OHA is testing sewage for the new omicron variant of COVID-19.

The agency started testing sewage samples in September 2020, and the program, which includes Baker City, helped identify the presence of the delta variant in the state earlier this year.

The most recent Baker City sample tested was collected on Nov. 16, according to OHA.

The agency has been testing samples from Baker City on a weekly or biweekly schedule.

Earlier this year, samples of sewage in Baker City showed sustained increases in the concentration of the delta variant starting in early August. That coincides with a surge in infections caused by that variant, which is much more contagious than previous variants.

Cases in Baker County rose from 91 in July to 300 in August, and peaked in September with 465.

Cases dropped to 168 during October, and to 143 in November.

The highest viral concentration, from a sample collected on Sept. 28, was 7.874.

Viral concentrations for the six samples tested between Oct. 5 and Nov. 16 ranged from 6.366 (Nov. 2) to 7.551 (Nov. 16).

Breakthrough cases

During the most recent week for which statistics are available — Nov. 28 through Dec. 4 — six of Baker County’s 34 cases were breakthrough, which is an infection in a fully vaccinated person.

The weekly breakthrough case rate of 17.6% is down from 27% the previous week (seven of 37 cases) and 21.7% the week before that (10 of 46 cases).

Statewide, 30.6% of cases were breakthrough for the week ending Dec. 4.

The OHA does not have details about breakthrough cases at the county level, such as the age of breakthrough cases, and whether there have been any deaths or hospitalizations.

Statewide, 580 people who had a breakthrough infection have died — 1.2% of breakthrough cases — and 2,090 (4.4% of cases) have been hospitalized.

Breakthrough cases accounted for 21.5% of Oregon’s 233 COVID-19-related deaths during November, down from 27.1% of deaths during October (144 of 532 deaths).

The total number of COVID-19-related deaths in Oregon has dropped sharply since peaking at 907 during September (193 of which, 21.3%, were breakthrough cases).

Vaccination

Baker County, as it has for more than a month, has the fifth-lowest vaccination rate among Oregon’s 36 counties, with 54.3% of residents 18 and older vaccinated.

The statewide figure is 79.5%.

Health officials continue to recommend residents have a booster dose. On Thursday, Dec. 9, a booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine was approved for ages 16 and 17.

The highest rate of booster doses in Baker County is residents 65 and older, with 32.7% have had a booster dose.

The statewide figure is 48%.