An adult resident of Washington County was confirmed to be presumptively infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus and has been hospitalized and isolated, according to a press conference held by Gov. Kate Brown and the Oregon Health Authority on Friday. This is the first coronavirus case in Oregon.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and OHA are working to notify those who may have come into contact with this person. They said that contact tracing, or finding those who may have come into contact with this person, is their top priority.

The virus was community spread, meaning that the patient did not travel out of the United States to other countries where the coronavirus is present and how the patient was infected is still unknown.

The patient also spent time in Forest Hills Elementary School in Lake Oswego. They are currently being isolated and treated at Kaiser Permanente Westside Hospital in Hillsboro.

A second, unrelated person in Portland who was under investigation by OHA for possible coronavirus infection tested negative, according to a press release. There were still seven pending tests and 88 people under monitoring as of Feb. 29.

Despite the confirmed case, Brown encouraged people to go about their daily lives. 
“The advice is actually pretty simple and has been around for a long time, cover your cough and sneeze, wash your hands,” said Pat Allen, OHA director.

He also encouraged people to stay home from work and school if they begin to show symptoms and to stay informed. 

“It does require being close, having a conversation. Passing someone on the street or in a store isn’t going to put them at risk,” said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, Oregon’s state health officer.

For more information, people can go to healthoregon.org/coronavirus or call 211.

Correction: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this story incorrectly stated the full name of the CDC and has been updated.