Public health officials announced four new presumptive cases of the coronavirus in Central Oregon on Wednesday, bringing the state’s total case count to 19.
The new cases are in Polk, Marion, Umatilla, and Deschutes counties. They come one day after Multnomah County’s first known case of COVID-19 was confirmed.
“I know it’s difficult to learn that we are seeing more active community spread of COVID-19, but this is something we’ve been expecting,” said Dean Sidelinger, the public health officer with Oregon Health Authority (OHA), in a press release. “It’s a good reminder to take steps to protect yourself, and vulnerable friends and family members, by washing your hands, covering your coughs and sneezes, and staying home if you’re sick.”
The OHA is continuing to advise that people most at risk of developing life-threatening complications from COVID-19 avoid travel and public gatherings. Those at risk include people older than 60, people with chronic illnesses like diabetes or heart problems, and people with compromised immune systems.
For people who are not high-risk, OHA recommends staying home if you develop a fever, cough, runny nose, headache, or sore throat, all symptoms of the coronavirus.
According to the OHA press release, private medical labs and clinical hospital labs in Oregon should be able to start testing for the virus next week. Currently, the state lab is only testing the most extreme cases because of limited resources. Once other labs start testing people who otherwise have been tested, the number of confirmed cases is expected to spike.
As reported by the Oregonian, the City of Portland is taking its first steps to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. That includes directing city bureaus to limit public gatherings, moving at-risk people in homeless shelters into motels, and plans to put 14 public portable toilets with hand-washing stations throughout the city.
Many local venues are also cancelling their events as a pre-emptive step to slow the coronavirus’ spread.
In Washington state, there are now at least 366 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths. On Wednesday, Gov. Jay Inslee announced a ban on gatherings of more than 250 people in the parts of the state most impacted, which includes Seattle. All Seattle public schools will be closed for at least two weeks.
Oregon could soon have its own public gathering rules in place, as Gov. Kate Brown and the OHA will hold a press conference Thursday morning to discuss new state strategies to curb the spread of the virus.
