Douglas County Coronavirus Update November 12; 18 New Cases, 11 Hospitalized

(DCCRT) (Douglas County, Ore.) Unfortunately, our COVID cases continue to increase every single day, and today, only five days into this week we are reporting our highest WEEKLY case count ever with 106 new cases, with two days still to go. Last week we broke a record with 78 new cases. This trend should be incredibly concerning for everyone, as the potential impact to our businesses, workplaces, schools and households could be tremendous; with lost work time, lost education time and lost revenue and income. An ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure — and that’s never been more true than right now. Just like the old adage, the recommendations from public health for preventing the spread of diseases, viruses and illnesses are not new notions, but rather age old advice based on decades of scientific research. From a young age we are taught to wash our hands, cover our coughs, clean and disinfect and stay home if you are sick to prevent the spread of germs. This same advice continues to be the basis for healthy hygiene habits and virus prevention practices today. Please think about your actions, your activities, your gatherings, your visits and make sure they are COVID safe for everyone involved. And, please do not go to work when you are sick or send your children to school when they are sick. “It has been a terrible, terrible, terrible week with COVID. It has been the week with the most cases in the world, most cases in the US, the most cases in Oregon and the most cases in Douglas County. In most instances, case numbers are strikingly up from the previous week, showing up to a 50% increase in cases,” stated Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, Douglas County Public Health Officer. “When other places were struggling with high COVID case counts, Douglas County remained low. It took us months to get to our first 40 cases, but this last weekend we had 46 cases in just two days. The last 14 days we've had 194 cases, which is just a stunning increase in cases. And when we look at these cases, there is nothing fancy or special about them. There is nothing that you have not heard before. They are related to gatherings...family gatherings...sports gatherings and lots and lots of parties. Oh, and we are still seeing cases related to travel, where residents brought the virus back here. And, finally we are seeing cases where residents are going to work and school when they are still sick. Please, please stay home if you are sick.” Douglas County COVID-19 Test Results: As of 12:00 pm today, Thursday, November 12, 2020, there are EIGHTEEN (18) 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 563*. Currently, there are ELEVEN Douglas County COVID-19 patients that are being hospitalized locally. Despite the spike in cases, our Douglas County COVID-19 Response Team, under the direction of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, our Public Health Officer and Douglas Public Health Network staff continue to focus on COVID prevention, testing and education efforts. Currently, DPHN is supporting 152 cases in isolation, as well as another 494 contacts in quarantine in Douglas County. Isolation is recommended for confirmed and presumptive cases, quarantine is recommended for contacts of confirmed or presumptive cases. Currently, staff is supporting an astonishing 646 total contacts in isolation or quarantine. 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. PLEASE STAY HOME FROM ALL ACTIVITIES IF YOU ARE SICK, FEELING EVEN A LITTLE SICK OR NOT FULLY RECOVERED FROM BEING SICK! Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, Douglas County Public Health Official would like to remind residents about the importance of staying home when you are sick to help protect others from getting sick. This means not only staying home from work and school, but also staying home from all other activities and social events. Please, if you are sick, even if you just have a runny nose or stuffy head, do not attend birthday parties, weddings, poker nights, prayer groups, church or go work out at the gym and expose others to your illness. Oregon Coronavirus Update Oregon reports 1,122 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases and four new deaths COVID-19 has claimed four more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 746, OHA reported at 12:01 a.m. today. OHA reported 1,122 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today bringing the state total to 53,779. The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (1), Benton (20), Clackamas (102), Clatsop (1), Columbia (8), Crook (5), Curry (3), Deschutes (28), Douglas (14), Grant (4), Harney (1), Hood River (3), Jackson (123), Jefferson (1), Josephine (4), Klamath (9), Lane (65), Lincoln (1), Linn (8), Marion (102), Morrow (3), Multnomah (351), Polk (19), Umatilla (44), Union (2), Wasco (5), Washington (169), and Yamhill (26). Oregon’s 743rd COVID-19 death is a 62-year-old man in Lane County who tested positive on Oct. 13 and died on Nov. 11 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center Riverbend. He did not have underlying conditions. Oregon’s 744th COVID-19 death is a 93-year-old man in Clackamas County who tested positive on Nov. 4 and died on Nov. 5. Place of death is being confirmed. He had underlying conditions. Oregon’s 745th COVID-19 death is a 95-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on Oct. 14 and died on Nov. 11 in his residence. He had underlying conditions. Oregon’s 746th COVID-19 death is a 35-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 5 and died on Nov. 9 in his residence. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed. COVID-19 Weekly Report shows increases in cases, hospitalizations and deaths The Oregon Health Authority released its COVID-19 Weekly Report today, which showed that during the week of Nov. 2-8, OHA recorded 5,177 new cases of COVID-19 infection — up 46% from last week’s tally of 3,542. This is the third consecutive week that daily case counts set a record high for the pandemic. The number of newly tested Oregonians rose to 34,307, and the percentage of positive tests rose sharply to 11.9%. Forty-two Oregonians were reported to have died in association with COVID-19, compared to 37 the previous week; 212 were hospitalized. People aged 20 to 49 accounted for the largest percentage of infection at 55%, despite accounting for 39% of the total population. People younger than 30 accounted for 37% of the cases. People over 80 accounted for 51% of COVID-19 associated deaths, and people over 70 accounted for 74% of deaths associated with the illness.