There are three new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 2,349.

Dance company becomes a COVID-19 resource during the pandemic

Luisa Zaragoza is the artistic and managing director at Ballet Folklorico Ritmo Alegre in Medford. A project that started as a high school club in the ’90s has grown into a dance academy for children and youth in the Medford area. Luisa, originally from Mexico, takes great pride in providing opportunities for cultural movement and expression for youth in her community.

Through the pandemic, Luisa has seen how fear and misinformation can impact the well-being of those around her. Especially since many families in her community don’t speak English or know where to get reliable information.

“There are resources out there, but if people don’t know how to access them, then we have a barrier,” Luisa says. She knew her relationship with families in the community was an opportunity to help.

Last year, Ballet Folklorico Ritmo Alegre partnered with the Oregon Health Authority and a couple of other local organizations to develop an education campaign providing information on COVID-19 and local resources through Facebook posts, phone calls, Zoom meetings and several drive-through events.

“For me, this is very important work,” Luisa says. “We get people with questions from things they hear on social media, and we are able to help them. They know we get information from reliable sources and see us following security measures as well, so they trust us. In a way, we are an intermediary, and they depend on us as much as we depend on them.”

As Oregon’s vaccination efforts are underway, Luisa has shifted some of her time to inform people on eligibility and vaccine locations. Meanwhile, she continues to offer folklorico dance classes to youth in her community and has even scheduled safely distanced performances at testing events.

“The kids need this too. They feel like they’re contributing, and it gives them a place to escape from the many challenges they’ve experienced through the pandemic.”

Learn more about Ballet Folklorico Ritmo Alegre and OHA’s statewide program working with community-based organizations.

Promise of more vaccine doses moves up eligibility timeline

Today, Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen shared that Oregon expects to get more COVID-19 doses from the federal government in the coming weeks. That means everyone 16 and older will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations by May 1. The state will continue to make equity the center of our vaccine distribution efforts, ensuring that seniors, people with underlying conditions, frontline workers, and the Oregonians most vulnerable to COVID-19 have the opportunity for vaccinations as soon as possible.

No internet access to schedule your vaccine? 211 can help

Not everyone is able to use the internet for vaccine scheduling. If you need to schedule your vaccination and you don’t have access to the internet, you can call 211. They can help you schedule.

New capacity limits for outdoor rec and outdoor entertainment

Under the direction of Governor Kate Brown, outdoor capacity limits have been updated for outdoor recreation and fitness as well as outdoor entertainment for Oregon counties. As of March 17, all Oregon counties may allow the following:

• Lower risk: Maximum 50% occupancy
• Moderate risk: Maximum 25% occupancy
• High risk: Maximum 15% occupancy
• Extreme risk: Maximum 50 people

For updated outdoor capacity limits, please refer to the Sector Risk Level Guidance Chart.

Weekly COVID-19 cases increase, deaths hospitalizations decline

OHA’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released today, shows increased daily cases and declines in hospitalizations and deaths from the previous week.

• OHA reported 2,272 new daily cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, March 8 through Sunday, March 14 — a 31% increase from the previous week.

• New COVID-19 related hospitalizations dropped to 130, down from 139 last week.
• Reported COVID-19 related deaths dropped to 26, down from 86 last week.

• There were 94,079 tests for COVID-19 for the week of March 7 through March 13 — a 27% drop from the previous week. The percentage of positive tests was sharply higher, at 3.6%.
• People 70 years of age and older have accounted for 40% of COVID-19 related hospitalizations and 77% of COVID-19 related deaths.

Today’s COVID-19 Weekly Outbreak Report shows 37 active COVID-19 outbreaks in senior living communities and congregate living settings, with three or more confirmed cases and one or more COVID-19 related deaths.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations

To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine situation in Oregon, visit our webpage (English or Spanish), which has a breakdown of distribution and other information.