BAKER CITY — A 71-year-old Baker County woman who died on Wednesday, April 14 at a Boise hospital is the 14th county resident to die after testing positive for COVID-19, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported.

The woman, who tested positive on April 7, died at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center. She had underlying conditions, according to OHA.

“This loss weighs heavy on all of us,” Nancy Staten, director of the Baker County Health Department, said in a press release. “The Health Department staff all sends our condolences to those who knew her.”

The latest death of a county resident happened during the week when the county had its largest number of new cases since the last week of December.

The county reported 16 new cases on Wednesday, April 14, following 14 cases on April 13. That’s the highest two-day total at any time during the pandemic. The county had nine more cases on April 15.

The rate of new cases has more than tripled over the past month or so.

From March 7-20 the county reported 24 new cases.

But for the next two-week measuring period, March 21 through April 3, the period the OHA uses to determine counties’ risk level, Baker County had 79 new cases.

For the current two-week period, which ends today, the county had 71 cases through Thursday, not counting any new cases Friday or today.

Staten said most of the recent cases are connected to social gatherings.

The surge comes while the county’s vaccination rate continues to increase. As of Thursday, about 31.2% of the county’s 16,800 residents were partially or fully vaccinated.