SALEM — The Oregon Health Authority on Thursday, Sept. 16, reported five new COVID-19 deaths in Wallowa County, bringing the total during the pandemic to 11. Four of the deaths were from cases during the most recent surge of the virus, which started in July, and a fifth was from earlier in the year. 

The earliest of the five was of a 79-year-old woman who tested positive on April 28 and died May 11. The woman, who had underlying conditions, died at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Idaho, the OHA update said.

The other three deaths came within a week of each other. First was a 69-year-old man who died on Aug. 20, six days after testing positive for COVID-19. It’s not yet known if he had underlying conditions. 

A day later, on Aug. 21, an 84-year-old man died, also six days after testing positive for the virus. The man had underlying conditions. 

Four days later, on Aug. 25, a 56-year-old woman tested positive and died the same day. It’s unknown yet if she had underlying conditions. 

Also on Aug. 25, an 86-year-old woman from Wallowa County tested positive and died on Aug. 27. Location of death and presence of underlying conditions are being confirmed by OHA.

The four August deaths are the first reported by OHA in Wallowa County during a spike in cases that has seen roughly 290 people in the county contract the virus in the past two months. On Sept. 16, the OHA reported four new cases of COVID-19, which brings the Wallowa County total to 493.

In  Union County, the report showed 31 new confirmed and presumptive cases, bringing the county’s total to 310 in September and 2,652 throughout the pandemic.

OHA also reported that 81.3% of the 14,046 reported COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks occurred among people who are unvaccinated. There were 2,632 breakthrough cases from Sept. 1-15.

Below are the reported dates of key COVID-19 numbers in Wallowa County dating back to the start of the pandemic. The county has reported 494 cases since the start of the pandemic, with 180 of those coming during August and 75 so far in September. The amount of time between the dates is also included.

First case: April 8, 2020

50th case: Oct. 30, 2020 (205 days later)

100th case: Jan. 26, 2021 (88 days)

150th case: April 2, 2021 (66 days)

200th case: July 19, 2021 (108 days)

250th case: Aug. 5, 2021 (17 days)

300th case: Aug. 17, 2021 (12 days)

350th case: Aug. 24, 2021 (seven days)

400th case: Aug. 30, 2021 (six days)

450th case: Sept. 7, 2021 (eight days)

The Wallowa County residents who died with COVID-19 died on the following dates: July 16, 2020; Sept. 29, 2020; Nov. 9, 2020; Dec. 14, 2020; Feb. 2, 2021; March 2, 2021; May 11, 2021; Aug. 20, 2021; Aug. 21, 2021; and Aug. 25, 2021;

Source: Oregon Health Authority