July 22, 2020
New Statewide Rules Go into Effect
Today, Governor Kate Brown announced several new measures to help suppress COVID-19 in Oregon and drive transmission rates back down, effective Friday, July 24.
Effective July 24 New Statewide Rules
In the press conference, OHA State Health Officer Dr. Dean Sidelinger discussed the reasoning behind some of the new rules:
* *Reducing gathering sizes in venues from 250 to 100 across the state: *Taking this action, even in Phase II counties, means fewer people will be close together in confined spaces.
* That reduces the risk of super-spreader events seen in our state and around the nation.
* The farther we are apart, the harder we make it for the virus to spread.
* *New mask requirements*: We learn more about COVID-19 every day. The science is growing and clear that masks slow the spread of COVID-19.
* Masks protect other people from virus-laden droplets that might be transmitted by the wearer.
* Theres also emerging evidence that masks protect the wearer from other people by filtering out some virus particles that can cause infection.
* *Imposing a 10 p.m. curfew on all restaurants and bars:* Wherever people gather, theres a higher risk COVID-19 will be present and will pose a danger.
* Many restaurants and bars have made efforts to provide a safer experience to their customers.
* However, a uniform statewide curfew curtails the amount of time people can interact in restaurants and bars, which means fewer opportunities for COVID-19 to spread.
He also discussed whats driving increased COVID-19 cases in Oregon.
Big outbreaks have become less of a factor. Large outbreaks in workplaces, long-term care facilities and other settings account for a diminishing proportion of recent cases. Oregon also has more resources to assist with isolation and quarantine. For people to stay limit the spread of disease to others they often need help with shelter, food and other necessities.
However, sporadic cases are growing. Sporadic cases are people who become infected with COVID-19 and dont have any epidemiological link to any other known case. As of last week, 47 percent of cases in Oregon cant be traced to a known case. That means the virus is circulating more widely in the community diffuse and largely undetected.
Oregon’s contact tracing capacity is under strain. Last week, case investigators were only able to contact 93 percent of new cases within 24 hours of diagnosis, which is below our goal of 95 percent. That dip adds urgency to our efforts to bolster investigation and contact tracing capacity across the state and our need to contain community spread.
You can watch the full press briefing on OHAs YouTube channel [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh_wFeZQRxs ].
OHA Announces New Test Site Locator
Yesterday, the Oregon Health Authority announced it has published a COVID-19 test site locator to help Oregonians across the state find testing sites in their community. The interactive map is available on pages in both English and Spanish and can be toggled into multiple other languages: healthoregon.org/covid19testing
People who experience COVID-19 symptoms, including fever, cough or shortness of breath, should contact a health care provider to discuss whether to be tested. Health care providers determine whether testing is appropriate based on symptoms and test availability in their area.
The COVID-19 testing site locator was developed by Castlight, a health navigation platform that connects the information of hundreds of health vendors, benefits resources and plan designs into an online tool. Oregonians can locate nearby testing sites by entering their address or selecting state, county and zipcode. Oregonians should call the COVID-19 testing site before they go to learn about testing criteria, availability and hours.
The data on the testing locator was submitted to Castlight by OHA and local public health authorities. OHA cannot guarantee that people will be able to get tested at one of the sites. It is always best to contact a health care provider about getting a COVID-19 test.
OHA Releases Weekly Report
OHA released its Weekly Report today, noting that the recent COVID-19 resurgence continued during the week July 13-19. Over that week, there were 2,409 new cases of COVID-19, a 26 percent increase from the previous week.
The percentage of tests positive increased again to 6.6 percent from 6.2 percent. Meanwhile, large outbreaks have contributed a diminishing proportion of recent cases, and sporadic cases (cases not traced to another case) have increased, consistent with diffuse community spread.
Oregon reports 264 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 2 new deaths
COVID-19 has claimed two more lives in Oregon, raising the states death toll to 271, the Oregon Health Authority reported at 12:01 a.m. today.
Oregon Health Authority reported 264 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 15,393.
The new cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (1), Benton (3), Clackamas (24), Clatsop (1), Coos (3), Crook (2), Curry (1), Deschutes (8), Douglas (2), Grant (1), Hood River (4), Jackson (11), Jefferson (6), Josephine (1), Klamath (6), Lane (6), Lincoln (2), Linn (6), Malheur (13), Marion (31), Morrow (3), Multnomah (51), Polk (4), Umatilla (24), Wasco (1), Washington (45), and Yamhill (4).
Oregons 270th COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old man in Umatilla County who tested positive on July 9 and died on July 20 in his residence. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.
Oregons 271st COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old man in Umatilla County who tested positive on July 16 and died on July 21 at Good Shepherd Hospital in Hermiston. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.
