Scientists Test Resident Random Samples for COVID-19 Following Worst Week Positive Test Results | Coronavirus

A team of researchers will survey 30 bend areas next weekend and will ask residents to test for COVID-19 and nasal washes.

team is, Oregon State University-Cascade With OSU faculty researchers at Corvallis Deschutes County Health Service Those who have initiated a team-based rapid assessment of community-level coronavirus epidemics, or a study called TRACE-COVID-19.

Their goal is to find out what is going on with COVID-19, which is prevalent in the community. Only those with symptoms such as cough, fever, and shortness of breath have been tested for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic.

Tests conducted twice weekly on 1,100 Corvallis residents showed that the virus was not as prevalent as some thought. A preliminary study showed that two out of every 1,000 people were infected with the virus in a volunteer test conducted on the weekend of April 25.

The final test at Corvallis will take place in late June.

“The past few weeks have been ambiguous,” said Jeff Bethel, co-researcher, who is also an associate professor of epidemiology at OSU-Corvallis Public Health and Human Sciences. “We wanted to identify gaps (in the test) and better determine prevalence in the COVID-19 community. Our study closed the knowledge gap.”

The same testing and sampling will be done in bends using 30 US Census tract locations, Bethel said. The results will be emailed and will be mailed to the volunteers within 7-10 days.

About 650 people will be asked to volunteer for the exam, Bethel said. That was when the number of cases in Deschutes County exploded on Thursday to 117. According to one day, 9 people tested positive last week on one day only County health data..

Patti Adair and Tony DeBone said they were not worried about the increase in cases and said the rise reflected the county’s further testing.

Adare, the county soared from about 400 to 500 people per week from test to 900, and the number of positive results still remains below 2% of those tested. The state revised its testing guidelines on April 22 and included people who showed no symptoms and worked in the medical setting.

She said she was still in support of the county’s resumption when it did so on May 15.

“It looks terrifying when you look at 6 or 9 (cases), but it makes sense to have more people when you say,” Oh, they tested about 900 people. ” Adair said Thursday.

Health officials are unable to identify the cause of the surge in cases in Deschutes County, but the increased positive COVID-19 test results are due to family and social gatherings, Morgan Emerson, spokesperson for the Deschutes County Health Department. Says.

“By looking at all of our cases (117), about 70% are considered community widespread, and there is no known link to another individual who tests positive for COVID-19,” Emerson said. He said in an email. “Some of these gatherings involved multiple families living in multiple households coming together.”

Positive cases were identified through follow-up contact from health care workers who interviewed people who were positive for the virus to identify who had been exposed to the virus during the period of infection, Emerson said.

It is too early to determine if the increase in incidents in Deschutes County is due to the resumption of the economy. People begin to show symptoms 4-14 days after exposure. Many of the cases reported last week result from contact occurring prior to the May 15 reopening date.

As of Friday, there were no patients with COVID-19 in St. Charles Bend, said Dr. Jeff Absalon, a St. Charles doctor. As the test guidelines change, more tests are being done, Absalon said. Hospitals are expanding testing to patients seeking surgery other than emergency surgery. Some asymptomatic patients have a positive reaction.

“It emphasizes what we know about this disease. People can get infected, but they have no symptoms,” Absalon said. “Your actions affect others.”

While the OSU researchers are inciting, wastewater samples will be collected from the city to test the genetic material responsible for COVID-19. The goal of wastewater research is to depict how prevalent the virus is in the community. Although the virus cannot survive as a pathogen in wastewater, the infected people are pouring detectable genetic elements of the virus into sewers, according to an OSU press release.

“People in and around Oregon want to know how the COVID-19 virus is prevalent in their communities,” said Becky Johnson OSU-Cascades vice president. “I am very pleased that OSU-Cascades has worked with Deschutes County Health Services at Oregon State University in Corvallis and colleagues to extend TRACE research to bends, especially when the community is reopening.”