State of Oregon Coronavirus News Update and Preparedness

Monday, Sept 28, 2020 update

Oregon reports 266 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 5 new deaths

COVID-19 has claimed five more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 525, the Oregon Health Authority reported at 12:01 a.m. today.

Oregon Health Authority reported 266 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today bringing the state total to 30,599. The new cases  reported today are in the following counties: Benton (27), Clackamas (14), Clatsop (3), Columbia (2), Curry (1), Deschutes (16), Douglas (6), Jackson (13), Jefferson (6), Josephine (3), Klamath (4), Lane (11), Lincoln (2), Linn (4), Malheur (22), Marion (40), Morrow (1), Multnomah (40), Polk (8), Umatilla (10), Wasco (1), Washington (23), and Yamhill (9).

Note: OHA double counted a death on Sept. 4 that was originally recorded on July 24. The duplication occurred because of an incorrectly reported date of birth. Because of this error we are renumbering our reported deaths starting with 521 today.

Oregon’s 521st COVID-19 death is a 93-year-old woman in Lane County who tested positive on Aug. 26 and died on Sept. 17, in her residence. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 522nd COVID-19 death is a 72-year-old woman in Jackson County who tested positive on Aug. 28 and died on Sept. 15, at Providence Medford Medical Center. She had underlying medical conditions.

Oregon’s 523rd COVID-19 death is an 81-year-old man in Morrow County who tested positive on Sept. 4 and died on Sept.14. Location of death is being confirmed. He had underlying medical conditions.

Oregon’s 524th COVID-19 death is a 97-year-old-woman in Marion County who died on May 10. The death certificate listed COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death. She had underlying medical conditions.

Oregon’s 525th COVID-19 death is an 86-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Aug. 16 and died on Sept.16 in his residence. He had underlying medical conditions.

Are you ready to talk to your children about playdates?

The conversation is bound to happen, if it hasn’t happened to you as a parent already. What are you prepared to say when your child asks about spending time with friends?

If you’re not comfortable with playdates yet:

  • For younger children, you can keep it simple.
  • For teens, you can point them to the facts about the virus.

The Harvard Health Blog has many useful tips for what to do if your teen pushes back about staying home during COVID-19.

This article from Children’s Hospital of Orange County also explains what you can do to help your children cope with missing their friends.

If you are ready for your kids to spend time with friends again:

To learn more about having difficult conversations with children, friends and family about COVID-19, visit the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health website.

How to talk to kids about spending time with friends

Effective July 24 New Statewide Rules

In the press conference, OHA State Health Officer Dr. Dean Sidelinger discussed the reasoning behind some of the new rules:

  • Reducing gathering sizes in venues from 250 to 100 across the state: Taking this action, even in Phase II counties, means fewer people will be close together in confined spaces.
    • That reduces the risk of “super-spreader” events seen in our state and around the nation.
    • The farther we are apart, the harder we make it for the virus to spread.
  • New mask requirements: We learn more about COVID-19 every day. The science is growing and clear that masks slow the spread of COVID-19.
    • Masks protect other people from virus-laden droplets that might be transmitted by the wearer.
    • There’s also emerging evidence that masks protect the wearer from other people by filtering out some virus particles that can cause infection.
  • Imposing a 10 p.m. curfew on all restaurants and bars: Wherever people gather, there’s a higher risk COVID-19 will be present and will pose a danger.
    • Many restaurants and bars have made efforts to provide a safer experience to their customers.
    • However, a uniform statewide curfew curtails the amount of time people can interact in restaurants and bars, which means fewer opportunities for COVID-19 to spread.

He also discussed what’s driving increased COVID-19 cases in Oregon.

Big outbreaks have become less of a factor. Large outbreaks in workplaces, long-term care facilities and other settings account for a diminishing proportion of recent cases. Oregon also has more resources to assist with isolation and quarantine. For people to stay limit the spread of disease to others they often need help with shelter, food and other necessities.

However, sporadic cases are growing. Sporadic cases are people who become infected with COVID-19 and don’t have any epidemiological link to any other known case. As of last week, 47 percent of cases in Oregon can’t be traced to a known case. That means the virus is circulating more widely in the community – diffuse and largely undetected.

Oregon’s contact tracing capacity is under strain. Last week, case investigators were only able to contact 93 percent of new cases within 24 hours of diagnosis, which is below our goal of 95 percent. That dip adds urgency to our efforts to bolster investigation and contact tracing capacity across the state – and our need to contain community spread.

Thursday, July 23, 2020 Statistics

Oregon reports 264 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 2 new deaths

COVID-19 has claimed two more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 271, the Oregon Health Authority reported this morning.

Oregon Health Authority reported 264 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 15,393.

The new cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (1), Benton (3), Clackamas (24), Clatsop (1), Coos (3), Crook (2), Curry (1), Deschutes (8), Douglas (2), Grant (1), Hood River (4), Jackson (11), Jefferson (6), Josephine (1), Klamath (6), Lane (6), Lincoln (2), Linn (6), Malheur (13), Marion (31), Morrow (3), Multnomah (51), Polk (4), Umatilla (24), Wasco (1), Washington (45), and Yamhill (4).

Oregon’s 270th COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old man in Umatilla County who tested positive on July 9 and died on July 20 in his residence. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 271st COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old man in Umatilla County who tested positive on July 16 and died on July 21 at Good Shepherd Hospital in Hermiston. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

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