Oregon reported 13 deaths and 555 confirmed or presumptive cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 2,044 and the statewide case count to 148,475 and the death toll to 2,044.
Brown Changes Policy on OHA Reporting, Gelser Agrees
February 3, 2021
This week, the Oregon Health Authority changed its policy, announcing it would no longer provide as much demographic information about each person who had died from COVID-19 – information such as date of death, age, county of residence, location at time of death, and how long ago they had tested positive for the virus. Instead, the public would only be informed of an aggregate description of people who had died in a week, listing the range of ages within which people had died, for instance.
At first, Governor Kate Brown defended this policy, but now has ordered OHA to resume issuing more comprehensive information, tweeting, “In a pandemic, Oregonians must have access to timely info to keep themselves & their families safe. I have directed @OHAOregon to disclose all data on COVID-19 deaths weekly, including the date the individual tested positive, their age, location & underlying health conditions.