January 7, 2021 4:00 a .m.

The Oregon Health Authority’s weekly report shows a sharp increase in daily cases and positive tests for COVID-19.

OHA reported 7,913 new daily cases during the week of Monday December 28th through Sunday January 3rd. That is a 17 percent increase over the previous week. That follows three weeks of declining cases.

OHA said there were 358 people hospitalized for COVID-19, a 6 percent increase from the previous week. There were 73 reported COVID-19  deaths, down from 86 last week.

The percentage of positive tests increased to 7.5 percent. There were 123,821 tests for COVID-19 for the week of December 27th through January 2nd.

People aged 20 to 49 have accounted for 54 percent of COVID-19 cases, while people 70 and older have accounted for 77 percent of deaths associated with the virus.

The COVID-19 outbreak report shows 4,853 active COVID-19 outbreaks in care facilities, living communities and long-term care facilities, with 323 deaths.

A link to the weekly report is posted: https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/DISEASESCONDITIONS/DISEASESAZ/Emerging%20Respitory%20Infections/COVID-19-Weekly-Report-2021-1-6-FINAL.pdf