Oregon thought it was controlling COVID-19 and then surged

It was early June when the mayor of Newport, a small city on the coast of Salem-Oregon, received a call he was afraid of.

It was a county commissioner – two workers at a local seafood factory had a coronavirus and the others were being tested.

“When he told me he thought, “Well… we’ll be in a lot of lawsuits,” Dean Sawyer said.

Until then, there were less than 10 cases in Lincoln County with Newport, an increase of 124 overnight. This increase made Lincoln County escalate to the top of the list because it had the highest number of cases per capita in the state at the time. The news of the outbreak shocked and intensified residents and officials – COIVID-19 returned home.

This is the situation that has happened throughout the past month in Oregon. The number of coronaviruses has surged and has spread to a small community that recorded a small number of cases in early June. The situation is either controlling the pandemic or messing with Oregon to be overwhelmed.

Throughout the pandemic, state authorities boast one of the lowest infection rates in the country. As of the end of May, the number of cases in Oregon was approximately 4,200, and it has been confirmed that the number of new cases does not reach three digits every day until June.

Some officials said the pandemic looked “far” when the Oregon people saw much more positive reactions in other states, such as California and Washington.

But in June the situation changed. Oregon continued to set new highs in the state for new daily cases.

The Oregon Department of Health said Thursday there were 375 additional confirmed estimated estimated cases of coronavirus across the state. Previous records were 281.

Over the past month, the number of confirmed cases has more than doubled to over 9,600.

Dr Paul Cieslak, Medical Director of Communicable Diseases at Oregon Health Authority, called on the number. The numbers may get worse.

Researchers warned in July about the potential for a “rapid increase in new infections.”

Dr. Dean Sydlinger, a state epidemiologist, said Wednesday that the daily confirmed number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 increased to more than 900 per day in the following month, increasing daily hospitalization from 8 to 27. It shows that it may increase.

In the worst-case scenario based solely on increased infection rates, projects that confirmed daily cases increased by 20 percentage points to 4,852 new infections per day and hospitalization increased by 74 per day for a total of 82. You will be hospitalized daily. ..

While the number of cases is increasing across the state, Cieslak said there was a significant increase in rural counties.

As of Thursday, the counties with the highest number of cases per capita (Union, Umatilla, Lincoln, Morrow, Jefferson) are free of Portland, Eugene and Salem and have a population of 11,600-75,000.

Cieslak said the sudden increase would be overwhelming for the county as the state helps track contacts.

Union County has 129 cases per person and is the state’s largest outbreak center after more than 235 cases have been connected to the church.

Oregon is also affected by a coronavirus outbreak along the Washington border.

The Clark County Public Health Department in Washington is investigating the outbreak of COVID-19 in a restaurant in Vancouver on Friday, saying that people visiting the facility from June 19 to June 25 may be at risk of illness. Are concerned.

So far, 18 cases (4 employees and 14 customers) have been associated with the Orchards Tap Bar and Grill, according to the ministry. Anyone who visits Orchard Tap between June 19th and 25th should contact their health care provider and ask for a COVID-19 test, even if they have no symptoms.

The surge in incidents is not just due to workplace outbreaks or large gatherings.

“We now see a lot of new clusters (of cases) related to multi-household gatherings-large group birthday parties, graduation parties, family gatherings, friend vacations,” Cieslak. Said.

According to Cieslak, these activities are COVID-19’s “most efficient transmitters”.

Health officials said this was particularly relevant for the coming of July 4th.

Most events and fireworks have been canceled or postponed, but authorities are primarily interested in gathering family and friends at parties.

“If too many Oregons continue to ignore these precautions, the number of cases could grow exponentially and the newly reopened community and business could be closed again,” Governor Kate Brown said. “Now, before the weekend of July 4, we have a chance to keep the COVID-19 numbers in Oregon from following the same skyrocketing trajectory in states like Texas, Florida, and Arizona.”

Cieslak had another piece of advice. If you are partying with people from multiple homes, cancel.

“Make a barbecue in the backyard with a member of your family and make a Skype call with the rest of the family,” said Cieslak.

Coronavirus outbreaks can be harmful if people don’t listen, officials repeatedly said.

“I was able to do these activities a year ago, around July 4th and around the time of graduation, but in the era of COVID-19 it was not wise,” Cieslak said. Said. “These are the types that have to drive our case counting up and rethink whether we can safely restart the state.”