In light of emergency declarations by federal and state leaders in response to the coronavirus outbreak, officials in Lane County sought to reassure the public Friday morning.
Lane County Commissioner Heather Buch says medical staff at public health and in the community know what to do.
“They’ve been studying viruses like this for their entire professional careers and they know what to tell us to do. We need to follow their advice.”
Doctor Patrick Leudtke with Lane County Public Health says it’s important for people to continue to observe good hygiene by washing hands and using social distancing to avoid infection.
While the current number of cases of COVID-19 in Oregon has grown to 30 across 9 counties, as of Friday there were still no confirmed positive case in Lane County.
Leudtke says there’s still not enough testing being done for COVID-19.
“I wish we had more testing. I’m comforted that it is increasing. I’m comforted that it is increasing. I’m also very comforted that the large laboratories that do this work every day in the thousands of tests are ramping up. We’re not where I’d like to be. I’d like to have more data.”
Leudtke says private sector labs are now doing testing for Oregon counties. He says while there’s a lot to be learned about coronavirus, we know that it’s transmitted mainly through droplets of saliva. That’s why he’s stressing hygiene and social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus.
