Clatsop County will no longer issue daily news releases that detail demographic information on new coronavirus cases.

The county has been publicly disclosing virus cases locally since the start of the pandemic, providing the age range, sex and whether the individual lives in the northern or southern part of the county.

Moving forward, the county will post the number of new local cases reported by the Oregon Health Authority on the COVID-19 Public Information Hub on the county’s website. The total number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths will also be listed.

“The Public Health Department has been reporting every local positive COVID-19 case since the first one in March 2020,” the county said in a statement. “The department’s approach to the pandemic is shifting from an emergency response to managing COVID cases within the context of updated guidance and the ongoing vaccination campaign.”

A spokesman for the county said any noteworthy changes or trends in local virus cases will be disclosed as they occur.

The information hub includes data from the health authority on testing, vaccinations, outbreaks and hospitalizations.

At several points during the pandemic, the county’s local virus case count did not match the Oregon Health Authority’s count, leading to some public confusion, since case counts help determine the county’s risk level and the extent of government restrictions to contain the virus.

Over the past year, The Astorian has pressed the county to disclose more demographic information about virus cases, a breakdown of virus cases by zip code and workplace outbreaks that have the potential to lead to dozens or hundreds of new virus cases.

The county has declined to disclose more detailed information, citing patient privacy concerns, a state law that gives the county and the state discretion on what information to release during disease outbreaks and demands on county staff.

The change in the county’s virus reporting policy comes as the county surpassed 1,000 cases.

As of Friday, the county has recorded 1,003 virus cases since the pandemic began. According to the county, 25 were hospitalized and eight have died.