2 New Deaths, 5 New Cases, 13 Residents Hospitalized As Cases Continue To Drop
1:13 AM · Dec 17, 2020(DCCRT) Douglas County COVID-19 Test Results: As of 12:00 pm Today, Wednesday, December 16, 2020, there are FIVE (5) people with new positive test results and TWO (2) deaths to report since our noon case update yesterday. The total number of cases (people with positive test results and presumptive) in Douglas County is now at 1,228*. Currently, there are THIRTEEN (13) Douglas County COVID-19 patients that are being hospitalized, twelve locally, and one out-of-the-area. Our Douglas County COVID-19 Response Team, under the direction of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, who administer our local public health and oversee the work by Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, our Douglas County Public Health Officer and Douglas Public Health Network, continue to devote all resources available to our local COVID response. COVID-19 Related Deaths of Douglas County Residents Our Douglas County Public Health Officer, Dr. Robert Dannenhoffer, has confirmed the death of two Douglas County residents from the COVID-19 virus. Our thirty-fifth death is a 64-year-old man who was diagnosed with COVID on Tuesday, November 24, 2020, admitted to the hospital on Monday, November 30, 2020 and passed away on Tuesday, December 15, 2020. Our thirty-sixth death is a 78-year-old man who was diagnosed with COVID Wednesday, November 25, 2020, admitted to the hospital on Sunday, December 6, 2020 and passed away this morning, Wednesday, December 16, 2020. In the interest of privacy for the loved ones of these residents, no additional information will be released. “Every COVID death is one too many to report, and today we mourn the passing of two more Douglas County residents to this terrible disease. 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 the family, friends and neighbors of this beloved resident,” commented Commissioner Tim Freeman. “While we do see a light at the end of the COVID tunnel, it’s important to not let your guard down right now. Sadly, many of these deaths were avoidable if residents would have followed the simple recommendations to stay home when they were sick, keep their 6-foot distance, avoid large gatherings, wear a face covering and wash their hands. Please think about the health and safety of others this holiday season.” Douglas County Continues to be A Leader in Public Health Speaking of public health in Douglas County, we are fortunate in Douglas County to have forward thinking leaders, like Commissioner Tim Freeman and our Board of Commissioners that recognized that our public health system needed to be overhauled about 5 years ago. Commissioner Freeman led the charge in developing a unique model for our public health, and that unique model has enabled us to respond nimbly and effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health services used to be provided directly by Douglas County, through our county health department until January 2016, when the department was decentralized after it was determined that the current system was ineffective and inadequate to serve the needs of our citizens. With the help of a recently retired health care administrator and others, Commissioner Freeman analyzed the situation, brainstormed solutions and developed something entirely different. The new approach to public health care involved tapping into existing local resources and creating a non-profit to manage it. DPHN was formed as a nonprofit, and local nonprofits were invited to join as members of the Board of Directors. Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer came on as County Public Health Officer and was hired as DPHN executive director. Later, Teresa Mutschler took over the executive director role. Dannenhoffer remains the medical director for DPHN. The County, specifically the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, retain the public health authority for the county and are ultimately responsible for the statutory public health services. There were a host of local agencies that already provided services similar to certain public health functions, so those services were incorporated into the new model to create efficiency and improved access. Each partner agency manages a specific set of services. For instance, United Community Action Network (UCAN) runs the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program; Aviva Health provides immunization, women’s reproductive health, family planning, sexually transmitted disease, and school-based health services; Adapt/Compass provides adult and school-based mental health services; and Dunes Family Health Care offers some immunization services in the Reedsport area. Entities like Mercy Medical Center and Umpqua Health participate through the Board of Directors. Having other agencies take on those functions has allowed DPHN itself to focus on things like disaster preparedness, communicable diseases, and prevention. Which has been very critical during the COVID-19 pandemic. While most county public health departments are stretched thin to provide their full array of public health services during the pandemic, Douglas County’s system allows partner nonprofits to manage the day-to-day public health needs, so DPHN can focus on COVID-19. “With the first Worldwide pandemic in 100 years, our public health system was set up with a large focus on dealing specifically, with this type of public health emergency,” Freeman said. “They have been incredibly responsive and have hit the thing out of the park because of the structure and a network of amazing and dedicated people.” Our unique public health system has allowed us to build capacity and train for rapid response for events like the COVID pandemic. Not only have the Douglas County Board of Commissioners supervised the DCCRT team, they have been boots on the ground working with the team on our public health response in Douglas County. From communications to case management to staffing to contracts to medical to grant dollars to financing to planning to organizational needs to supplies to PPE to clinics and mitigating policy the Commissioners have been integral in making sure every aspect of our COVID response is the best it can be. Local Cases Being Supported in Isolation and Quarantine Currently, DPHN is supporting 159 cases in isolation, as well as another 569 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 astounding 718 total contacts in isolation or quarantine. This number represents a snapshot of the significant amount of work being done by our county and Douglas Public Health Network to help control the spread of COVID-19. Today, we also want to point out that we hit another unfortunate record with COVID-19 in Douglas County. Due to one person choosing to go to work while they were sick (who later tested positive for the COVID-19 virus), we now have over 300 Douglas County residents in quarantine. This is a new record, previously our record of contacts per case was 96 residents in quarantine. Please protect yourself and others from contracting COVID, by staying home if you are sick. Weekly COVID Series: Week 3, Day 3 Celebrate the Holidays Safely During COVID-19 Day three with tips and ideas to safely celebrate your holidays and keep you and your family and friends safe from COVID this holiday season. Tip # 3: Take the Celebration Outside. Yes, it is cold outside, but studies have shown that outdoors is safer than indoors when visiting, dining or gathering with others, because you can spread out and create space between you and others. While we recommend not inviting or hosting or attending events, dinners or holiday celebrations this year, if you are going to have visitors, please consider dressing up or creating an outside venue with heat lamps, a fire pit, blankets, hats/gloves and warm drinks instead of being indoors. There are a lot of other outdoor activities that you can do that are safe for your family. Drive through the Festival of Lights at River Forks Park in Roseburg, pack the family into the car and take a light tour of your town or city (maybe even drive by the Douglas County Courthouse and check out our new living Christmas tree), check out the beach or tour Wildlife Safari or take a hike in the crisp weather to see your favorite park or waterfall. Remember to keep your group small and try to limit it to members of your immediate household. Yes, holiday celebrations will need to look different this year to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Do not chance it, please avoid activities that are higher risk for virus spread this holiday season. Christmas is 9 Days Away! Remember You are the KEY to COVID Safe Holidays! It is no secret that the key to stopping the continued spread of the coronavirus is, YOU, our residents, our families, our communities and our businesses. Please celebrate safely this holiday season. Prevention is the best medicine, and not just to help stop the spread of COVID, but for your overall health and wellbeing as well. If each and every individual in our county would make a real concerted effort to implement prevention measures into their daily routine, we could see a huge decrease in our COVID case numbers. We need each and everyone one of our residents to take the necessary steps to minimize the spread of germs and contagions. You can help by staying home this holiday season, keeping gatherings to just your household, maintaining healthier eating habits; incorporate exercise and cleaning routines; being cautious and keeping a distance from others; making modifications to how you socialize with others; choosing no contact deliveries and services; and staying home if you are sick. The suggestions we make and the guidelines presented by public health are not just for your health and safety, but for the health and safety of everyone, including our kids, our grandparents, our coworkers, our first responders, our teachers and our businesses. We know we sound like a broken record, but our primary focus is to do everything we can to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of our residents. Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, Douglas County Public Health Official, urges residents to stay home when they are sick to help protect others from getting sick and spreading disease. 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 got to work or attend gatherings, church, parties, events, weddings, game nights, prayer groups, or go work out at the gym and expose others to your illness. Help STOP the Spread of COVID Make a habit of washing and sanitizing your hands, regularly. That means washing after you eat, if you touch new surfaces, go to the bathroom, open a door, go to the store, go to the post office or after a meeting. Also try and avoid touching your face as much as possible. Please wear a mask when you are around others not from your household. Not just for your protection, but for the protection of others. Stay at least six feet apart from anyone that is not from your immediate household. This means paying attention to the distance stickers at the store, the bank, at restaurants and at businesses. Please be respectful, kind and polite, by giving people ample space. Stay home from work, school and play if you are sick. This includes not running errands or going shopping or inviting visitors to your home. If you need help, reach out to friends, family or utilize an app or businesses that offer no contact deliveries or services. Minimize travel, especially out of the state and limit visitors to your home. Minimize attending social gatherings or going places where there are large groups of people. The DCCRT team, under the direction of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, along with Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, our Douglas County Public Health Officer and Douglas Public Health Network encourage residents to make prevention measures a priority in their everyday routines. Getting Tested & Testing Clinics The next drive-through testing clinic will be Friday, December 18, 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. Since then, there have been 2,123 tests performed in local 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. Oregon COVID-19 Case Update Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reports new cases once a day on their website at www.healthoregon.org/coronavirus. OHA also releases a daily situation status report and a weekly report that details the overall picture of the COVID-19 outbreak within our state. The daily report details positive and presumptive cases, as well as deaths by county and statewide, while the weekly report is more in depth and includes statistical data related the severity of cases by age, gender, zip codes, ethnicity, as well as information on workplace and senior care facility outbreaks in Oregon. Find additional information on the state or Federal COVID-19 response go to Oregon Health Authority, Centers for Disease Control, and 211Info. Oregon COVID-19 Presumptive OHA expanded their reporting for COVID-19 case management to now include presumptive COVID-19 cases in their total case number. DPHN is reporting the number of people with new positive test results and any new presumptives and uses the OHA’s definition of presumptive as having had close contact with a known, confirmed COVID-19 case, showing symptoms and not yet having a positive nasal swab/PCR or antigen test for COVID-19. Testing continues, as DPHN has been holding 2-3 clinics a week and hospitals, urgent cares and clinics continue to test. DPHN continues their epidemiologic investigations, identifying individuals who may have had close contact with individuals that have tested positive for COVID-19, advising and supporting quarantine and isolation. OHA Reporting and Definition for Recovered As per the Oregon Health Authority COVID-19 Investigative Guidelines, the number of recovered cases is no longer being assessed or reported by OHA. Up until May 1st, 2020 recovery from COVID-19 was defined as being afebrile (not feverish), without the use of antipyretics (medicine to reduce a fever), and having resolution of cough, shortness of breath and diarrhea for at least 72 hours. As more was learned about symptoms, recovery and contagious period, the definition of recovered changed. Beginning May 1st, OHA stopped reporting recovered cases while also separating recovery from contagious or isolation period. Many cases were no longer contagious, as they were outside of the contagious period, but still having lingering symptoms. To be consistent with OHA and to adapt as we learn more about this new virus, we removed the column in our chart listing recovered cases. At that point, we added the number of those in isolation, roughly indicating active or infectious cases of COVID-19 in Douglas County. Facebook Live with Dr. Bob Please join us Friday, December 18, 2020 at 4:00 pm for the next Facebook Live event with Dr. Bob. hosted by DPHN on the DPHN Facebook page. Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, our Douglas County Public Health Officer will continue their normal schedule of Facebook “Live Q&A Updates” next week with both his Tuesday night at 6:00 pm and Friday night at 4:00 pm on the DPHN Facebook page. Residents are still able to submit their COVID-19 questions to Dr. Bob during the live shows, but you can also email your questions to: Facebookquestions@douglaspublichealthnetwork.org. Dr. Bob and the DPHN team will do their best to respond to as many questions as they can during their weekly updates. KEEP UP AND ACCESS LOCAL COVID-19 INFORMATION Stay Informed with Accurate Local Information Stay up to date on COVID-19 in Douglas County on the Douglas County Government website or the DPHN website. Your Douglas County Board of Commissioners, Douglas County Public Health Officer, Dr. Robert Dannenhoffer, DPHN and the Douglas County COVID-19 Response Team (DCCRT) have been working hard to cooperatively provide accurate and timely information to Douglas County residents since March 8, 2020. Our local COVID-19 updates represent the coordinated effort of the agencies that make up the DCCRT. Douglas County Resource/COVID-19 Hotline: (541) 464-6550 Your Douglas County Board of Commissioners and Douglas Public Health Network continue to offer a local resource and referral service via our COVID-19 hotline for Douglas County residents. The Hotline helps residents get answers to questions, provides up-to-date COVID information and helps residents get connected to resources and services related to COVID-19. The Resource/COVID-19 Hotline is (541) 464-6550. It is staffed from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, 7 days a week until further notice. ACCESS TO STATE COVID-19 INFORMATION/RESOURCES To find additional information on State or Federal COVID-19 response go to Oregon Health Authority, Centers for Disease Control, and 211Info. Questions about Governor’s New Statewide Metrics and Rules? If you have questions or need more information on statewide mandates, guidelines or rules, go to the Governor’s COVID-19 website at https://govstatus.egov.com/or-covid-19/ or call the Business Oregon's Navigator Hotline at (833) 604-0880. For information on COVID-19 in other counties and around Oregon, call 211 or visit 211info. Who Do You Contact to Report Compliance Issues with the Governor’s Statewide Rules? Please do not call 911, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office or Douglas County Offices to report compliance issues with the Governor’s orders. The Governor has directed the State offices for Oregon Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) to be the enforcement agencies responsible for ensuring restaurants, bars, and other businesses comply with COVID-related rules. For more information or to report compliance issues contact: OSHA: (800) 922-2689 or OSHA website or OLCC (503) 872-5000