Eight of the state’s nine counties with annualized COVID-19 case rates per 100,000 population higher than the U.S. average in September were east of the Cascades, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

From highest to lowest were Wallowa, Jefferson, Lake, Wheeler, Wasco, Deschutes, Umatilla and Grant counties. Wallowa County had 9,985 cases per 100,000 and Grant 6,903.

The U.S. average case rate in September was 6,544, and Oregon’s 5,256. Three of the seven Oregon counties with case rates between the national and state averages also were east of the Cascades: Crook, Klamath and Harney. By contrast, five of the seven counties with the lowest case rates were in Central and Eastern Oregon: Morrow, Hood River, Union, Sherman and Gilliam, with 1,193, the fewest. Malheur and Baker were below the state average, at 20th and 22nd from the top.

Oregon ranks eighth lowest among the 50 states in deaths per million attributed to COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine. For much of the pandemic, it was fifth lowest, but the omicron variants hit the state hard.

In the past month, Oregon recorded 141 new deaths attributed to COVID-19, also according to Johns Hopkins. Its record high month was 789 in November 2021, during the omicron wave. Oregon to date has registered 902,319 confirmed cases and 8,622 deaths attributed to COVID-19.

Umatilla County has registered 25,380 cases and 244 deaths attributed to COVID-19 and Morrow County 3,275 cases and 37 deaths, as of Monday, Oct. 10, in OHA Region 9 data. The seven-day average then was no new deaths for either county, and no new cases in Morrow, but seven new cases in Umatilla County.