Lane County now at "medium" risk as Omicron cases and hospitalizations increase

The Omicron subvariant BA.2 remains prevalent in Lane County and new, daily infections have increased to triple digits, public health officials say.

Lane County has seen a significant rise in COVID-19 cases. Over the last two weeks, Public Health officials report triple digit case counts per day. And an uptick in hospitalizations has moved the county back into the “medium” risk category.

Spokesperson Jason Davis said, how these increases impact individuals vary. “Which means that your odds of contracting COVID-- by attending events, by going out in public-- is increased. And while we’re not recommending that all activity in our community ceases, it is good to be aware of that. Especially since there is a high degree of variability from person to person on how they’re going to react to a COVID infection.”

Davis said it comes down to “personal assessment.” But, with so much disease circulating and enough people still at-risk for severe disease, “masking up indoors when in public is probably a good idea.”

15 Oregon counties are now regarded to be at “medium” risk of COVID-19 by federal metrics. Those counties are: Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, Columbia, Benton, Deschutes, Hood River, Tillamook, Yamhill, Polk, Lincoln, Lane, Wallowa, Union and Baker.

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Tiffany joined the KLCC News team in 2007. She studied journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia and worked in a variety of media including television, technical writing, photography and daily print news before moving to the Pacific Northwest.