PENDLETON — Umatilla County reached a grim pandemic milestone this week — 100 reported COVID-19 deaths.

The county so far reported four COVID-19 deaths this week. One of the victims was just 29 years old, the county reported Tuesday, Aug. 17.

Joe Fiumara, the county’s public health director, said the victim had underlying health conditions.

The disclosure comes as the county reported 85 new COVID-19 cases on Aug. 18. The county continues to report pandemic-high case counts and hospitalizations amid the delta crisis sweeping Oregon.

“COVID continues to wreak havoc in Umatilla County, in Oregon, and across the nation as the Delta variant and perhaps other new strains pick up steam to demonstrate just how aggressive they are,” Commissioner George Murdock said in an Aug. 17 email. “At the same time, citizens are demonstrating COVID fatigue and are drawing a line in the sand over vaccinations.”

The county last week reported 512 cases, its highest weekly total since the pandemic started in March 2020, according to the Oregon Health Authority. As of Aug. 16, the county averaged nearly 77 cases per day over the past week, also a pandemic record, state data show, and the county’s case rate and positive test rate are more than double the state average.

The 29-year-old woman tested COVID-19-positive July 29 and died Aug. 10 at Mid Columbia Medical Center, The Dalles. She is one of the youngest deaths the county has reported since the pandemic began. Public health and hospital officials, locally and nationally, say young people are developing severe cases of COVID-19 more often because of the delta variant, and some have few to no underlying health conditions.

“It something we’re seeing here, and something we’re hearing happen across the county,” Fiumara said.

Last week, the state reported a 35-year-old Morrow County woman and a 19-year-old Union County woman died with COVID-19. The 19-year-old was Oregon’s fourth resident younger than 20 to die with COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

The second victim reported Aug. 17 is an 82-year-old woman who tested positive Aug. 3 and died Aug. 14 at Good Shepherd Medical Center, Hermiston. She had unspecified underlying health conditions, the county reported.

The third is an 87-year-old woman who tested positive July 29 and died Aug. 8 at Willowbrook Terrace, a nursing home in Pendleton. She had unspecified underlying health conditions, the county reported.

The county’s 100th reported COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old woman who tested positive Aug. 12 and died two days later at Good Shepherd. The county has yet to determine if she had underlying health conditions.

Umatilla County health officials are expecting to report more COVID-19 deaths — as typically happens after a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations — but “we just don’t know how many yet,” Fiumara said.

The newly reported deaths come as hospitals across the state and county fill will COVID-19 patients. Officials have voiced concerns that local hospitals could be overrun with patients if the latest pandemic surge does not diminish soon.

Some hospitals are finding it difficult or nearly impossible to transfer patients to other hospitals for a higher level of care due to the latest surge because regional hospitals are at, or near, capacity. As of Aug. 18, only four intensive care unit beds were available for hospitals across Region 9, an area that encompasses Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Baker and Malheur counties, according to the state.

That could be bad news for folks seeking treatment for health issues other than COVID-19, officials say.

“Most of the beds are being filled by those who made a personal choice not to be vaccinated,” Murdock said. “The problem is that if you need emergency medical attention, they have not just made a decision for themselves but they have also made a decision on your behalf as well.”