Local Nursing Home & School Outbreak in Douglas County to be Listed By OHA

A COVID-19 outbreak at a Roseburg nursing home and Douglas County school were announced today. Umpqua Valley Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Roseburg and a school in the South Umpqua School District both will be listed by the Oregon Health Authority as having outbreaks. Douglas County COVID-19 Test Results: Unfortunately, we have reached 300 cases in Douglas County. The Douglas County COVID-19 Response Team remains committed to our local COVID-19 response. As of 12:00 pm today, WEDNESDAY, October 14, 2020, there are NINE people with new positive test results and one new presumptive since our noon case update yesterday. The total number of cases (people with positive test results and presumptive) in Douglas County is now at 300*. Currently, there are FOUR Douglas County COVID-19 patients that are being hospitalized. One is being hospitalized out of the area, while three are being hospitalized locally. Overall, Douglas County is doing well compared to the rest of the state of Oregon. We are ranked 29th out of 36 counties in the state with only 3.6 new daily covid-19 cases/100k residents. Here is the announcement of the outbreaks today from DPHN: "The Oregon Health Authority will be listing one school outbreak and one care facility COVID-19 outbreak in Douglas County in their Wednesday, October 14, 2020, weekly COVID report. OHA attributes cases through use of what, they define as an epidemiological link or an epilink. An epilink is a place or person or a group who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 have in common, such as a school, workplace, facility or family member. When OHA declares a school or care facility outbreak, which it does on a weekly basis, it does not mean that the location was the source of the outbreak, only that the worksite is the shared “eplink.” As of September 23, 2020, OHA’s policy related to school outbreaks is to report outbreaks with 2 or more cases in school settings with the capacity for more than 16 students. Case counts include all persons linked to the outbreak (epilinks), which may include household members or other close contacts of cases, and not just employees, staff or students at the school. OHA is publishing data on COVID-19 cases associated with schools that offer in-person instruction. According to OHA, the notice is to inform the public of potential COVID-19 exposure and to provide transparency surrounding COVID-19 in schools. School is defined as any place of learning for students from kindergarten through twelfth grade, or a subset, with at least 30 students enrolled. This includes, but is not limited to, public schools, private schools, parochial and charter schools. Staff is defined as any person who works full time or part-time at the school, regardless of their position. A volunteer is defined as any person who volunteers onsite. Locally, OHA will list a school outbreak linked to the South Umpqua School District. “We are working very closely with local public health and the Oregon Health Authority to ensure the safety of all students and staff. As soon as the Douglas Public Health Network informed us that a student in our district tested positive for COVID-19, we started notifying staff, and parents of the children in the cohort that a student tested positive, asking them to quarantine for 14 days and monitor for symptoms. We will continue to follow and maintain the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Department of Education guidelines; namely practicing handwashing, physical distancing to the degree we can, requiring people wear masks inside the building, and upholding cleaning and disinfecting protocols.” Kate McLaughlin, Superintendent of Schools, South Umpqua School District OHA’s policy related to care facilities, senior living communities, and congregate living settings outbreaks is to report outbreaks with three or more confirmed COVID-19 cases or one or more deaths. Case counts include all persons linked to the outbreak (epilinks), which may include household members or other close contacts of cases, and not just employees, staff or visitors at the care facility. Locally, OHA will list an outbreak linked to Umpqua Valley Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, a division of Avalon Health Care Management. “Our top priority will always be the health and safety of our residents and staff. We continue to follow proper infection control procedures for those who have tested positive. We are working closely with our local public health officials to prevent further spread of the virus.” Robert Barry, Administrator, Umpqua Valley Nursing & Rehabilitation Center. Dr. Dannenhoffer, and the staff at DPHN are working in conjunction with officials and staff at both facilities providing vital epidemiology investigation, including communicating with cases and contacts of cases, providing information, charting, resources and guidance, as well as assisting with testing and jointly supporting those that are in isolation or quarantine. “South Umpqua has been following public health guidelines regarding student cohorts, reducing risk and mitigating transmission of COVID-19 in a school setting. School officials are working very closely with DPHN and myself to care for the positive case and advise parents, families and staff that are close contacts. The staff at Avalon Health Care Management and Umpqua Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation Center have also been working closely with DPHN to limit exposure to staff and patients and to mitigate transmission. We believe the risk is low to both the school community and the general community in both outbreaks.” commented Dr. Dannenhoffer. OHA started reporting workplace, school and care facility outbreaks since early June, with the majority of cases now reporting as recovered. For more information on how OHA determines and reports outbreaks, log onto: https://govstatus.egov.com/OR-OHA-COVID-19" Facebook Live with Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer Join us Friday, October 16, 2020 for the next virtual town hall Q&A with Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, your Douglas County Public Health Officer at 6:00 pm, hosted by DPHN and found on the DPHN Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/DouglasPublicHealthNetwork/ Getting Tested & Testing Clinics The next drive-through testing clinic will be Friday, October 16, 2020, in Roseburg. As a reminder, if you are having symptoms of COVID-19 including cough, fever, shortness of breath, muscle aches and pains, diarrhea, sore throat or decreased sense of smell and taste, talk to your health care provider about being tested for COVID-19. Patients without a Primary Care Provider, that are looking for a COVID-19 test should contact the Sutherlin Aviva Health Clinic at (541) 459-3788. The first drive-through testing site was piloted in the county on March 17, 2020, there have been 1645 people tested in 81 drive-through clinics, while additional testing continues in hospitals, urgent cares and clinics. The drive-through clinics are led by DPHN, in conjunction with partner agencies including; Douglas County COVID-19 Response Team, Douglas County Board of Commissioners, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Douglas County Public Works, local volunteers and local health professionals. OHA Definition for Recovered Previously, we used the OHA definition for recovered that considered people recovered if they were 10 days from onset and symptoms were improving. As more is learned about COVID, the clinical definition of recovery is evolving. Due to the evolving nature of this definition, we have removed the column in our chart listing our recovered cases. We added the number of those in isolation that roughly correlates with the number of active cases. The DCCRT noon case and daily update will report the Total Number of COVID-19 Cases, the number of positive test results (as of 12:00 pm that day), the number of presumptive, total currently hospitalized, total currently in isolation, total COVID-19 deaths and total negative test results in Douglas County. Currently, DPHN is supporting 40 cases in isolation, as well as another 152 contacts in quarantine in Douglas County. Isolation is recommended for confirmed and presumptive cases, quarantine is recommended for contacts of confirmed or presumptive cases. This number represents a snapshot of the significant amount of work being done by our county and our public health to help control the spread of COVID-19.