Oregon reports 104th COVID-19 death, 69 new cases

As curve flattens, state to start tracking presumptive cases next week

(Update: OHA corrects death toll)

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- COVID-19 has claimed another life in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 104, the Oregon Health Authority reported Friday.

OHA also reported 69 new cases of COVID-19 as of 8 a.m. Friday, bringing the state total to 2,579 cases, along with 55,597 negative test results.

The new COVID-19 cases reported Friday were in the following counties: Benton (2), Clackamas (8), Clatsop (1), Coos (1), Douglas (1), Josephine (1), Klamath (1), Linn (1), Malheur (2), Marion (17), Morrow (2), Multnomah (13), Polk (3), Umatilla (7), Washington (9).

To see more case- and county-level data, visit the Oregon Health Authority website, which OHA updates once a day: www.healthoregon.org/coronavirus.

Oregon’s 105th COVID-19 death was a 73-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on April 14 and died Wedesday at his residence. He had underlying medical conditions.

Deschutes County has had 76 cases and 1,936 negative results. It also reports 54 of its cases have recovered. Crook County has had one case and 225 negative results. Jefferson County has had 10 cases and 275 negative results.

Of the 104 deaths, 48 have been people 80 and over, 30 were in their 70s, 20 were in their 60s and three each were in their 40s and 50s.

Modeling shows reduced transmission of COIV-19

On Friday, OHA released its statewide modeling update showing that our statewide mitigation efforts are working to flatten the curve.

This week’s report also modeled three scenarios from May 4 until June 4, assuming interventions with different levels of effectiveness in reducing transmission. The comparison shows this epidemic is clearly very sensitive to changes in policies or public adherence to community mitigation strategies.

The scenario modeling underscores the need to continue monitoring outcomes extremely carefully over time. It shows that to loosen the community mitigation strategies without a large increase in infections, changes need be made incrementally. And that any changes need to be accompanied by other interventions to keep transmission levels low. Other interventions include increased testing capacity, detailed contact tracing and likely the quarantining of infected individuals.

Read the full weekly modeling update here.

Oregon to start tracking presumptive cases

Starting today, OHA will begin tracking presumptive COVID-19 cases in its daily reports, consistent with recently amended guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A presumptive case is someone who does not have a positive PCR, a test that confirm if a person has COVID-19, but is showing symptoms and had close contact with a confirmed case. If they later test positive by PCR, those will be recategorized as confirmed cases.

The first results of that revised tracking will be reported in the daily report starting Monday.

The number of new presumptive cases will be reported alongside the number of confirmed cases. Clinical and demographic characteristics for confirmed and presumptive cases will be included together in the daily report. We will report out the total number of deaths among confirmed and presumptive cases.

Absent a positive PCR test result, the case will remain a presumptive case. A presumptive case is investigated by local public health authorities as they would a confirmed case. Presumptive cases are asked to follow the same self-isolation protocol as confirmed cases.

In rare instances, a presumptive case will later be diagnosed with another disease that better explains their illness. In those instances, the presumptive COVID-19 case will be recategorized and they will no longer be reported as a COVID-19 case.

Stay informed about COVID-19:

Oregon response: The Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Office of Emergency Management lead the state response.

United States response: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention leads the U.S. response.

Global response: The World Health Organization guides the global response.