GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
A possible fifth wave of the COVID-19 is swelling in a pandemic-exhausted Oregon that less than a month ago seemed to be on the verge of recovery.
âThe highly contagious delta variant has increased tenfold in the past two weeks in Oregon, and it is now estimated to be associated with 80% of the new cases in Oregon," said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state's top epidemiologist, said Tuesday evening.
The Oregon Health Authority reported 804 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday and five deaths. It had reported 1,032 on Tuesday, along with five deaths. Statistics released on Tuesday at times are inflated by lagging reports from the weekend.