Douglas County Records 9th Covid Related Death, Adds 12 New Cases Today

(DCCRT) (Douglas County, Ore.) Douglas County COVID-19 Test Results: The Douglas County COVID-19 Response Team continues to focus on our local COVID-19 response. As of 12:00 pm today, Wednesday, November 4, 2020, there are TEN (10) people with new positive test results and TWO new presumptives since our noon case update yesterday*. The total number of cases (people with positive test results and presumptive) in Douglas County is now at 411**. Currently, there are THREE Douglas County COVID-19 patients that are being hospitalized locally. **Please note: that we have retracted ONE positive case number from our totals today. After investigation, it was determined that one person previously reported with a positive test result was not a Douglas County resident, and therefore, the case was moved to their respective County. We have adjusted our chart and numbers to reflect the retraction and movement. Ninth COVID-19 Related Death of a Douglas County Resident Our Douglas County Public Health Officer, Dr. Robert Dannenhoffer, has confirmed the death of our ninth Douglas County resident from the COVID-19 virus. Our ninth COVID related death is an 81-year-old woman who passed away this morning, Wednesday, November 4, 2020, in Roseburg, Oregon. She tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted to the hospital on October 10, 2020. In the interest of privacy for the individual’s loved ones, no additional information will be released. Each death related to COVID-19 is painful for all Douglas County residents, and a reminder of the terrible impact COVID-19 has had in our local communities. The Douglas County Board of Commissioners, Dr. Dannenhoffer, DPHN staff and the DCCRT Team extend our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to all family members, friends, relatives, co-workers and community members of those who have passed after contracting this deadly virus. “Sadly, we report that we have lost another beloved Douglas County resident to the COVID-19 virus. On behalf of my family, my fellow Board of Commissioners, Dr. Dannenhoffer, DPHN staff and the DCCRT team, we send our sincere condolences and prayers to all the family members and friends,” commented Commissioner Tim Freeman. “It is concerning to continue to see an increase in case numbers and deaths in our communities. We cannot stress enough the importance of staying vigilant in protecting yourselves, the ones you love and all of our communities from the continued spread of this deadly virus!” Perspective: A Look at Our Local COVID-19 Statistics We know that pandemic fatigue has definitely set in for most of our residents, as we now pass the 250-day mark (8.2 months) since the first coronavirus case was reported in Oregon. We are all tired of COVID, tired of social distancing and tired of talking about this pandemic. But, the truth is that this virus is not going away anytime soon, and residents should prepare for a long winter with continued recommendations for following virus spread prevention measures. We wanted to share a few statistics that should be very concerning for everyone, and hopefully help to put things into perspective. In the first 190 days since the first COVID case was reported in Douglas County, we reported 189 Total COVID cases. Which equates to about 1 case per day for the first six months. Also, during that time, we reported 3 COVID related deaths of Douglas County residents. In the past 52 days, we reported a staggering increase of 222 Total COVID cases in Douglas County. Which equates to about 4 cases per day or a 117% increase in just the last 7 weeks alone. We have also sadly reported 6 COVID related deaths of Douglas County residents in the last 52 days." Roseburg School District Announces Positive Cases Shared from the Roseburg School District. The Roseburg School District announced their first two COVID cases yesterday, noting that they were notified by DPHN and Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, our Douglas County Public Health Officer, that an adult at Green Elementary School had tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, November 1, 2020, and a staff member at Hucrest Elementary School had tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The affected adult at Green Elementary School was advised to isolate for 14 days, and DPHN determined that students and staff were not exposed and did not need to be quarantined. The staff member at Hucrest Elementary School will be in isolation 14 days and students in one classroom, along with a reading group, will be required to quarantine for 14 days and monitor symptoms. Parents and guardians of the students in the affected groups will be notified today. Roseburg Public Schools Superintendent Jared Cordon said in-person learning will resume at both schools for the students and staff who are not in isolation or quarantine. “We will keep families and the school community updated with any new information as it becomes available, while meeting the requirements to honor everyone’s right to privacy,” he said. Douglas County (541) 672-3311 Douglas Public Health Network (541) 440-3571 Dr. Dannenhoffer and DPHN will continue to work with district and school officials in monitoring and supporting those in isolation and quarantine. “We have had several outbreaks in our local schools in the last 2 weeks,” stated Dr. Dannenhoffer. “A large part of our work in public health is establishing when a case is contagious and when it is necessary to quarantine close contacts. We’ve worked with the district and school officials to care for the positive cases at Hucrest and Green Elementary Schools and to advise parents, families and staff. We believe the risk for contraction is low in both schools.” For reference: The Oregon Health Authority issues a weekly COVID-19 report that publishes data on K-12 schools with in- person instruction, child/day care centers, businesses and care facilities that meet their outbreak criteria. As of last week, OHA’s policy related to school outbreaks is to report outbreaks with 1 or more cases in school settings at any place of learning for students from kindergarten through twelfth grade, or a subset, with at least 30 students enrolled. Case counts includes employees, staff, volunteers or students at the school. 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.