Lane County reports suspected COVID-19 death

If confirmed, it would be state's second novel coronavirus death

(Update: Lane County reports woman who died tested positive for COVID-19)

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The number of Oregonians diagnosed with COVID-19 jumped by 18 on Tuesday, to a total of 65, the Oregon Health Authority announced. Another case arose later Tuesday, the first in Lane County -- and Tuesday night, the county said it just learned a woman who died in the hospital over the weekend had tested positive for COVID-19.

A 60-year-old Lane County woman passed away at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend on Saturday. She was brought in experiencing cardiac arrest, and after her death, a COVID-19 test was submitted to the Oregon State Public Health Lab. The test was returned Tuesday evening as positive for COVID-19, county health officials said.

The woman lived in the Eugene-Springfield area and did not reside in an assisted living facility, the county said.

"While the Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the official cause of death, the positive COVID-19 test is concerning," the statement said.

A communicable disease investigation will occur. If a public contact exposure point is identified, that information will be shared with the public. Individuals who may have been exposed will be contacted by Lane County Public Health, so they can work with their health care providers on next steps.

"This is an incredibly sad announcement and one that we had hoped not to make in Lane County," the news release stated. "We encourage everyone to be as respectful and kind as possible as a family in our community grieves.

"We also encourage everyone to continue practicing social distancing, including adhering to all state guidance on gatherings and business operations, to help slow the spread of COVID-19."

OHA reported 18 total new cases as of 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, in these counties: Clackamas (4), Linn (5), Marion (1), Multnomah (1) and Washington (7).

Of the Linn County cases at the Oregon Veterans’ Home in Lebanon, four were previously reported by Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs in a media release Monday evening.

Those results came in after OHA updated its daily count. OHA updates it daily count on the website once a day.

Along with 65 positive tests, 968 came back negative and 215 were pending, for a total of 1,248 tests since Jan. 24.

Of the 65 cases in the OHA list, 42 involved people 55 and over, 15 are 35-54, one 25-34, four 18-24 and three 17 or younger.

Tuesday afternoon, Lane County Public Health said it was notified of the county's first positive COVID-19 test, involving a 69-year-old man living in a private home. That made the 66th confirmed case in the state, and the 14th county to have at least one case.

"Contact investigations are ongoing, but based on the current information obtained; this case is thought to be an example of community transmission," the agency said. "He is currently at home, following all LCPH recommendations, and is medically stable.

"Individuals who had contact with the community member will be contacted by Lane County Public Health so they can work with their health care provider on next steps. Communicable disease investigations are currently happening. If a public contact exposure point is identified, that information will be shared with the public."

"Symptom onset for this individual began on March 1st with a fever, body aches, chills, and a light cough. A test was taken by the patient’s provider on March 13th."

Stay informed

Oregon response: The Oregon Health Authority leads 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.

--

Open letter to Oregonians from OHA Director Patrick Allen:

An open letter to Oregon: You can stop coronavirus in Oregon

Patrick Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority

Our fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) has entered a stark new phase. Over the weekend, the first Oregonian lost his life to the virus. Each day, COVID-19 appears in more counties, more communities. Yesterday, Governor Brown took additional extraordinary actions to stop the spread of the virus – limiting public gatherings, restricting restaurants to take out and delivery service and extending school closures.

Social distancing measures are urgent and necessary to slow spread of COVID-19

These sweeping actions will create profound disruption and hardship in all our daily lives. The impact of these decisions will ripple through homes, schools, communities across Oregon – and through our state economy. These restrictions will demand unprecedented sacrifice from all of us. But they are urgent, necessary and justified in the face of the COVID-19 threat. Every one of us must help. We all have the power to stop COVID-19 and save the lives of people we care about.

I know many Oregonians are worried about whether they or a loved one will get sick from the virus. Across the state, all of us fearful of the fallout from these actions and efforts across the nation to stop COVID-19.

Here’s what we know: Our current projections tell us that, if left unchecked, approximately 75,000 Oregonians could catch COVID-19 by mid-May. Without intervention, those numbers would rapidly continue to expand. No one is immune. There is no vaccine available to stop the virus. There is no treatment.

Most people who contract coronavirus (about 8 in 10) will experience mild symptoms, but during that time you could pass the virus on to others. Yet, Oregon’s hospitals do not have the capacity to treat the remaining 20 percent of patients who may need acute care if people all get sick at once.

We need to flatten the curve of new COVID-19 infections to protect our hospitals

If Oregon’s health care system is swamped by a sudden spike in cases, hospitals in communities across the state will not have enough beds and life-saving equipment, such as ventilators, to manage the crisis. Clinicians won’t be able to save everyone.

But there’s hope: The expanded ‘social distancing’ measures Governor Brown ordered today are designed to slow the spread of COVID-19 and blunt the looming spike in new cases. This is often called “flattening” the epidemiological curve – i.e., spread the number of cases out over time to protect hospital so they can serve the patients who need them.

Oregon’s health care providers and public health officials have prepared for a pandemic. We have a plan. More than a decade ago hospitals and state health officials designed a blueprint to avert exactly the kind of potential catastrophe we are facing with COVID-19. That plan will help health care providers across Oregon:

• Manage a surge in demand for medical care and quickly and dramatically expand capacity to treat more patients.
• Maintain critical functions.
• Locate and secure alternate sites to deliver medical care.
• Secure needed medical supplies, like protective equipment for health care workers.

And we’re putting that plan into action, in partnership with hospitals across Oregon.

You can slow the spread of COVID-19

But our ultimate success in preventing a catastrophe will depend on each of us taking responsibility for these basic actions.

• All of us need to wash our hands for 20 seconds or more frequently throughout the day. Try to avoid touching your face. Avoid close contact with others (keep a distance of 3-6 feet), especially people who are sick. Work from home if you can.
• If you are 60 years of age or older, avoid groups of people, including small family gatherings. Stay in your home as much as possible. People your age and above are at greatest risk of being hospitalized. The same cautions apply for people who have other serious medical conditions (e.g., heart disease or diabetes). If you have a chronic medical condition, you are also at high risk, no matter what your age.
• If you are sick, stay home and avoid contact with others. Talk to your health care provider if you want to be tested for COVID-19. Talk to your health care provider before you visit a clinic or hospital emergency department. It’s critical for all of us to make sure hospitals are seeing only those people who need hospital care.
• If you are an employer, direct your employees to work from home if they can. Stagger schedules so fewer people are working together at one time. Send anyone showing symptoms of COVID-19 home.
• If you are a civic leader: Support protective social distancing actions. Use your voice to encourage people in your community to take responsible steps to stem the spread of COVID-19 among your neighbors.

COVID-19 testing is expanding, but it’s still not enough

We know many people are anxious to be tested for COVID-19. The reality is that Oregon’s state public health laboratory has received limited testing supplies from the federal government.

Oregon health officials have prioritized our limited testing resources for the sickest people and the people who are most at-risk. We know Oregonians would not want us to squander this vital resource indiscriminately.

We are doing all we can to open the testing pipeline. Several large hospitals have committed to begin testing. Outpatient clinicians are ordering tests from commercial laboratories. Those large commercial laboratories are reporting their results to OHA – we include their findings in our daily reports to the public.

However, it’s important for Oregonians to understand testing supplies remain limited due to federal decisions. While we’ve authorized outpatient clinicians to use their discretion, we know they cannot order a test for everyone who wants one. They will continue to exercise their clinical judgement, as commercial labs work hard to ramp up their capacity. We simply don’t have all the testing capability we want.

In the meantime, public health officials and our hospital partners will continue to focus our limited testing resources judiciously over the coming weeks, where they are most desperately needed. We will continue to keep Oregonians informed about our efforts to expand COVID-19 testing across the state.

We are all in this together

COVID-19 is in our communities. The virus does not discriminate. We cannot combat COVID-19 if we turn on each other or stigmatize people who test positive and become ill. That only puts sick people and the broader community at-risk because it discourages people from getting tested, getting care and staying home.

But it’s not too late to act. The measures we all take today – from Governor’s Brown’s urgent decisions to the actions each of us take in our personal lives – will determine how many people our hospitals can treat, how many lives they can save and how long the pandemic will last. We know that places around the world have adopted strong social distancing measures have curbed the pace of new infections. In places that have been slow to act, new cases surged. Lives were lost that could have been saved.

Oregonians have always worked together to overcome daunting challenges. We will do it again to stem the spread of the coronavirus and save lives in our state.