UPDATE: (4:56 p.m. PT) — COVID-19 has claimed two more lives in Oregon, raising the death toll to 271, state health officials said Wednesday.
The Oregon Health Authority also reported 264 new confirmed or presumed COVID-19 diagnoses. Since the pandemic was first detected in Oregon, 15,393 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, though health officials say that number under-counts the virus' full reach.
The people whose deaths were announced Wednesday were:
A 77-year-old man who died at his Umatilla County home on Monday. He was tested positive for the virus on July 9.
An 82-year-old Umatilla man who died Tuesday at Good Shepherd Hospital in Hermiston. He tested positive on July 16.
Health officials are still working to determine if either man had underlying medical conditions.
Clark County revises coronavirus figures, reports 20 new diagnoses
Health officials in Clark County, Washington, on Wednesday revised their assessment of the local impact of the coronavirus, after identifying one inaccurate database entry and several duplicated cases.
Earlier tallies had overstated the number of COVID-19 diagnoses by 9 people, and had counted one extra death of a person of died of non-coronavirus causes.
With 20 new positive COVID-19 tests reported Wednesday, but duplicate entries removed from the health department's database, officials now say that 1,577 people are known to have had the coronavirus in Clark County, and 37 have died.
"We strive to provide the most up-to-date and accurate data possible," the Clark County Public Health Department said in a statement. "Our data reconciliation process is ongoing and if errors are detected, we will correct them promptly and share that information with the public, as we have done today."
The latest available data from the Washington Department of Health shows 49,247 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus in the state and 1,468 are known to have died of it. As of Tuesday, COVID-19 has led to the hospitalization of 5,211 people in Washington.
Delayed test results hamper Oregon's virus response
Almost five months into the pandemic, the coronavirus is spreading, often undetected — and certainly under-detected — in every community in Oregon.
Testing is supposed to be the cornerstone of the state’s effort to suppress the virus.
But local and national supply shortages, delays processing results at out-of-state labs, and competing demand from hard-hit states like Arizona and Texas are undermining Oregon’s efforts to track the virus and to find and isolate the close contacts of people who test positive before they unwittingly spread the virus to even more Oregonians.
Public health clinics in Multnomah County have also been using Quest Diagnostics for testing and experiencing long delays.
With a virus as fast-moving and transmissible as COVID-19, the lag time in testing may be contributing to community spread, according to Dr. Jennifer Vines, Multnomah County health officer.
“There’s a big prevention window opportunity missed,” she said. “It makes contact tracing much more difficult and much less effective.”
Read more: Delayed Test Results Make Efforts To Contain COVID 'Unworkable' In Oregon
Nike, Wieden+Kennedy announce layoffs
Oregon companies Wieden+Kennedy and Nike both announced layoffs Wednesday.
Wieden+Kennedy, a Portland-based advertising agency, said it has laid off 11% of its global workforce due to financial impacts from the coronavirus pandemic. It would not specify the number of Portland employees that have been laid off.
“We negotiated this as long as we could, but W+K and COVID-19 have reached an impasse,” the ad agency said in a statement. “How long this will last seems to be anybody’s guess, so we have had to make some hard choices.”
Nike Wednesday also announced the beginning of layoffs, as well as management shifts, related to a larger reorganization of the company.
Nike said it expects to have a “net loss of jobs across the company” resulting in employee termination costs of between $200 million and $250 million. It did not specify the number of employees expected to be laid off.
Read more: Wieden+Kennedy, Nike Announce Layoffs
Oregon imposes new COVID-19 restrictions, increases mask mandate
Oregon is stepping further back from reopening and imposing new statewide coronavirus-related restrictions starting Friday, Gov. Kate Brown announced Wednesday.
Under the new rules, all children older than 5 must wear face coverings in public, and people who work out at gyms must wear masks. Crowds at restaurants, bars, movie theaters, gyms and churches must be kept to 100 people or fewer — the previous limit was 250. And bars and restaurants statewide must close by 10 p.m., including in areas where they had previously been able to stay open until midnight.
"I don't make these decisions lightly and there are no easy choices," Brown said. "This is all hard."
The governor also noted that Oregon has experienced an increase of youth transmission of COVID-19, and said that state leaders would make new announcements about the 2020-2021 school year soon.
Read more: Oregon To Expand COVID-19 Restrictions, Starting Friday
Outbreaks identified at Umatilla distribution center, at Warm Springs
The agency also reported an outbreak of 23 cases of COVID-19 at a Walmart distribution center in Umatilla County. The case count includes everyone connected to the outbreak, which may include household members of infected workers. Umatilla County has the largest amount of coronavirus cases per capita in the state.
Additionally, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs has started a two-week quarantine to slow the spread of the coronavirus on the reservation, following a spike in cases. The reservation — with a population of around 5,000 — has had 120 positive cases of COVID-19 as of July 17.
Related: COVID-19 In Oregon: By The Numbers
New Oregon site helps people locate COVID testing centers
The Oregon Health Authority has published a new online tool to help Oregonians find their closest COVID-19 testing site. With versions in both English and Spanish, the tool features interactive maps to help users find a place in their community to get tested for the virus.
OHA still stresses that people should contact a health care professional prior to seeking testing. The medical professional will be able to determine if someone's symptoms are consistent enough with COVID-19 to warrant a test, officials said Tuesday.
“Removing barriers to testing is important to help Oregonians stay healthy and to slow the spread of COVID-19,” said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, Oregon's state epidemiologist and state health officer. “This new resource can help people find ongoing testing locations in their community, which is especially important for people who don’t have a primary care provider.”
Oregonians can enter their address into the web page or select their state, county and ZIP code. The map then presents them with their nearest options and contact information for each testing location for scheduling an appointment.
The Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.
Copyright 2020 Oregon Public Broadcasting
