May 1, 2020
PORTLAND, Ore. -- COVID-19 has claimed one more life in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 104, the Oregon Health Authority reported at 8 a.m. today.
Oregon Health Authority reported 69 new cases of COVID-19 as of 8 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 2,579. The new COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Benton (2), Clackamas (8), Clatsop (1), Coos (1), Douglas (1), Josephine (1), Klamath (1), Linn (1), Malheur (2), Marion (17), Morrow (2), Multnomah (13), Polk (3), Umatilla (7), Washington (9).
To see more case and county level data, please visit the Oregon Health Authority website, which OHA updates once a day: www.healthoregon.org/coronavirus.
Oregon’s 104th COVID-19 death is a 73-year-old man in Multnomah County, who tested positive on April 14 and died April 29 at his residence. He had underlying medical conditions.
Modeling shows reduced transmission of COIV-19
Today OHA released its statewide modeling update showing that our statewide mitigation efforts are working to flatten the curve.
This week’s report also modeled three scenarios from May 4 until June 4, assuming interventions with different levels of effectiveness in reducing transmission. The comparison shows this epidemic is clearly very sensitive to changes in policies or public adherence to community mitigation strategies.
The scenario modeling underscores the need to continue monitoring outcomes extremely carefully over time. It shows that to loosen the community mitigation strategies without a large increase in infections, changes need be made incrementally. And that any changes need to be accompanied by other interventions to keep transmission levels low. Other interventions include increased testing capacity, detailed contact tracing and likely the quarantining of infected individuals. Read the full weekly modeling update here.
Oregon to start tracking presumptive cases
Starting today, OHA will begin tracking presumptive COVID-19 cases in its daily reports, consistent with recently amended guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A presumptive case is someone who does not have a positive PCR, a test that confirm if a person has COVID-19 but is showing symptoms, and had close contact with a confirmed case. If they later test positive by PCR, those will be recategorized as confirmed cases.
The first results of that revised tracking will be reported in the daily report starting Monday, May 4.
The number of new presumptive cases will be reported alongside the number of confirmed cases. Clinical and demographic characteristics for confirmed and presumptive cases will be included together in the daily report. We will report out the total number of deaths among confirmed and presumptive cases.
Absent a positive PCR test result, the case will remain a presumptive case. A presumptive case is investigated by local public health authorities as they would a confirmed case. Presumptive cases are asked to follow the same self-isolation protocol as confirmed cases.
In rare instances, a presumptive case will later be diagnosed with another disease that better explains their illness. In those instances, the presumptive COVID-19 case will be recategorized and they will no longer be reported as a COVID-19 case.
Stay informed about COVID-19:
Oregon response: The Oregon Health Authority leads the state response.
United States response: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention leads the U.S. response.
Global response: The World Health Organization guides the global response.