Umatilla County saw 42 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the past week, from Wednesday, March 24, to Tuesday, March 30, according to Umatilla County Public Health.

The regional dashboard on the health department’s website also showed seven new cases and one new death of a person with COVID-19 reported in Morrow County.

Statewide, The Oregonian reported on Monday, March 29, that Oregon averaged 351 cases a day over the past week, up 28% since March 15. The paper’s analysis also found the state’s test positivity rate had increased, to 3.8%, and active hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients had increased by 22% to 142.

The increase of cases in Oregon and in the United States as a whole comes as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky and other federal officials have asked states to keep up their COVID-19 restrictions a little while longer, warning that people are relaxing their precautions too quickly before enough of the population is vaccinated.

The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living released a study showing positive news for nursing homes, however.

The organizations, which together represent more than 14,000 nursing homes and long-term care facilities across the country, released a report on March 30, stating that nursing homes have seen a 96% decline in new COVID-19 cases among residents since Dec. 20, 2020, and COVID-19-related deaths in nursing homes declined by 91% during the same time period.