Oregon to scale back weekend reporting for some coronavirus data

The Oregonian/OregonLive has been using those online statistics for months to analyze trends and build graphics to help the public better understand the shifting landscape of the virus – not only across Oregon but at the county level.

For instance, the newsroom created individual charts looking at coronavirus across each of Oregon’s 36 counties. The charts show not only the reported number of daily infections by county, with moving averages, but also the percentage of tests reported each day that are positive.

(Click here to visit the newsroom’s webpage with interactive coronavirus graphics)

The Oregon Health Authority has said the percentage of positive tests is a key indicator to gauge whether more people are becoming infected. Tracking the percentage of positive tests helps put any increases in better perspective, because the raw number of infections should increase with more testing.

The newsroom’s graphics show, for instance, that Marion County has consistently hovered around 10% of tests producing positive results, Multnomah County has consistently held around 5% and Washington County has been steadily heading downward from about 10% to 5%

Meanwhile, counties such as Jefferson and Hood River now appear to be seeing slight increases in the percentage of their positive tests.

Charting those daily totals would have become more difficult and less precise under the Oregon Health Authority’s plan to stop reporting county-level testing totals on Saturdays and Sundays.

A spokesman for the agency, Robb Cowie, initially said such details would no longer be available over the weekend.

But Cowie late Friday, in response to concerns raised by the newsroom, said the health authority would disclose county-level testing totals in weekend news releases to ensure continuity in how the figures have been reported.

Other information that the health authority will no longer provide over the weekend: coronavirus infections by age range and the number of people hospitalized on a given day with a confirmed COVID-19 case.

The Oregonian/OregonLive built a graphic using that hospitalization data, for instance, that revealed people in the hospital with the virus across Oregon reached an all-time low of 46 as of Tuesday.

But the active hospitalization count climbed by 13 in just three days, up to 59 as of Friday, representing a possible red flag at the same time many counties have been allowed by Gov. Kate Brown to reopen. It’s unclear which counties have been responsible for the increase.

(Click here to view The Oregonian/OregonLive’s interactive graphic for active hospitalizations.)

Charting daily hospital totals may not be possible any longer because of the Oregon Health Authority’s decision to end weekend reporting.

Cowie said the agency would look for ways to continue providing active hospitalization totals by day, perhaps on Mondays.

Other statistics reported by the health authority will be updated on Mondays, as well, but are expected to include lumped-in totals from the weekend, not detailed counts by day.

Cowie said officials are trying to reduce the amount of weekend work for employees.

Public health officials have produced an assortment of statistical reports, including not only daily breakouts but also weekly analyses of ZIP code infections and workplace outbreaks, plus weekly online dashboards monitoring reopening progress.

“COVID-19 isn’t going away any time soon” Cowie said in a statement. “We know our public health response is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. While we are glad there are many people who follow changes in the daily numbers closely, OHA needs to adjust our reporting schedule so we can sustain our capacity.”

— Brad Schmidt; [email protected]; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt

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