This summer, after masking and other preventative measures were lifted with the availability of effective vaccines, the number of people sick with COVID-19 in Jackson and Josephine counties has spiked to 1,555 new cases for the week of August 8, nearly triple the highest reported weekly numbers since the beginning of the pandemic.

“This is the most COVID-19 cases reported in a week for Jackson County,” said Tanya Phillips of Jackson County Public Health. “The highest number of cases we had in a week during the fall and winter surge was the week of November 29, with 557 COVID-19 cases.”

In the past two weeks, Jackson County reported 2,209 new COVID-19 cases, indicating a “989.5 cases per 100,000” metric for understanding the scale of the problem. While that percentage still falls below most regions in the US, it has broken precedents locally.

Masks are now required to be worn indoors in the state and many government meetings have moved back to online formats. With no shutdown orders issued at this time, Oregonians brace for another “pause” to slow down the spread of the disease.

This is an excerpt from Peace House’s newsletter. Read Full Story here.