Health & Medicine

UPDATE (5:25 p.m. PT) — A new analysis released Friday by the Oregon Health Authority estimates that there may have been approximately 20,000 coronavirus cases in Oregon by May 22, when about 4,000 cases had been confirmed.  

The report, put together by the Institute for Disease Modeling, states that “the aggressive interventions in Oregon have been effective in dramatically reducing transmission rates.” #160; 

Elected officials say Lane County appears to remain on track to apply for Phase 2 of re-opening communities. Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis says seeing many businesses and city programs open is encouraging.

Latinx community members make up 25% of Lane County COVID-19 cases, despite being 9% of the county’s total population. Now, the county is working to test more people.

UPDATE (4:03 p.m. PT) — Seven counties Saturday were approved to move to Phase 2 of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s reopening plan, while some counties’ applications have been put on hold due to outbreaks.

Washington state Secretary of Health John Wiesman approved Phase 2 applications for Cowlitz, Grant, Island, Jefferson, Mason, Pacific and San Juan counties.

Kittitas and Clark counties had also applied for Phase 2, but both counties’ applications are being discussed further due to outbreak investigations.

A Roseburg family restaurant is facing a roughly $14,000 fine for re-opening its dine-in service, against Governor Kate Brown’s stay-home directive.

Lane County saw five new positive cases of COVID-19 over the weekend—putting the overall caseload at 65. Today (Tuesday,) Public Health officials say sudden upticks can be expected, given the incubation period for the virus.

Public Health officials were notified Monday of five new positive COVID-19 test results in Lane County. This puts the county at a total of 65 confirmed cases and one presumptive case.

Officials announced Friday a new 42-bed care center in Eugene is ready to accommodate people without homes who are recovering from COVID-19. The project to transform a former veteran’s clinic on River Avenue took about a month.

UPDATE (7:07 p.m. PT) — Oregon state and local officials reported 55 new confirmed coronavirus cases Wednesday, bringing the state’s known total to 3,338.

Officials Wednesday also reported four new coronavirus-related deaths. In Oregon, 134 people are known to have died from COVID-19.

The Oregon Health Authority detailed those deaths as:

A 91-year-old man in Polk County who tested positive on May 2 and died on May 8 at Salem Hospital. He had underlying medical conditions.

Linn County is among dozens of Oregon counties that have submitted an application to partially re-open amid the ongoing public health emergency.

UPDATE (7:35 p.m. PT) — Oregon State Parks Saturday announced more outdoor sites reopened for limited day use. 

The agency has reopened a number of sites in Central and Eastern Oregon in addition to sites in the Willamette Valley and Southern Oregon that reopened earlier this week. 

A full list of open sites is available on the Oregon State Parks website.

All Oregon State Parks sites on the coast remain closed.

UPDATE (7:46 p.m. PT) — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is facing a lawsuit challenging three executive orders intended to protect residents from the coronavirus by restricting where people can go and how they interact.

UPDATE (7:02 p.m. PT) — State officials have ordered the shutdown of a Southeast Portland nursing home following the deadliest outbreak of coronavirus at an Oregon care facility.

Officials with the Department of Human Services ordered the emergency suspension of Healthcare at Foster Creek’s state license due to inadequate infection control to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

UPDATE (12:30 p.m. PT) — For the second day in a row, the Oregon Health Authority on Monday reported no new deaths in the state from COVID-19. The death toll remains at 109.

In the same report, officials reported 65 new confirmed cases. The state total of coronavirus infections is 2,759.

UPDATE (12 p.m. PT) – Gov. Kate Brown said on Friday a new study with 100,000 randomly selected Oregonians could shed light on how far the coronavirus has spread throughout the state and will help guide the state’s decisions to reopen the economy. 

It was one month ago the governor ordered everyone to stay home to help stop the spread of COVID-19. 

“But holy smokes, it feels a lot longer than that,” the governor said on Friday. 

UPDATE (8:07 p.m. PT) — PPB said calls for service initially decreased following Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s school closure order in March, but calls have begun increasing in the past few weeks. 

“Our calls for service, what we’re seeing is that they’re trending back up and we’re almost at what we would consider a kind of normal level for this time of year for a lot of our call types,” PPB Chief Jami Resch said in a press briefing Friday.

With no new COVID-19 cases to announce over the last week, Lane County Public Health has shifted its focus to meeting seven  criteria for re-opening communities and making sure information reaches everyone.

Lane County Public Health Spokesman Jason Davis says COVID-19 testing guidelines have been broadened and local testing capacity is ready to increase. Testing numbers have yet to ramp up - likely because area doctors have been following advice to conserve resources.