Oregon Coronavirus Update for Wed March 18

10 new cases of coronavirus and 2 new deaths were announced Wednesday so far. That brings the total known cases to 75 and the total deaths to 3. Numbers are expected to rise rapidly in the days to come as increased testing is now underway. Oregon is building a 250 bed emergency hospital in Salem at the state fairgrounds to boost capacity for the coming surge of coronavirus cases. The hospital should be up and going by Friday. The state is trying to increase the total number of hospital beds in the state by 1,000 Oregon also announced today that Quest Diagnostics will handle 20,000 coronavirus tests for the state. Oregons initial allotment is 5,000 tests which should arrive any day. Douglas County tested 17 more people yesterday and will be able to test another 50 by the end of the week or so. Also on Wednesday Oregon ordered all hospitals, outpatient clinics and health care providers to cease all “non-emergency procedures,” in order to preserve equipment like masks, gowns and gloves for doctors and others treating coronavirus patients. Gov Brown said the measure also extends to veterinarians and dentists. Update on the Lane County Coronavirus Death - 60 year old woman. Apparently she had the Coronavirus for 11 days or so before finally being hospitalized the day she died. https://www.facebook.com/groups/roseburgtracker/permalink/3172152656200407/ Very cool story today we shared earlier - Rev David Thompson, of Roseburg’s First United Methodist Church and his congregation bought a giant pile of gift cards to local grocery stores to handout to students and families that might be concerned about necessities during this uncertain time. Have a great night everyone!