Four Lane County individuals previously diagnosed with COVID-19 have made a recovery, Lane County Public Health announced at an April 1 press conference broadcast on Facebook.
Of the four recovered individuals, two are in their 50s, LCPH spokesperson Jason Davis, with one in their 60s and another in their 30s. Davis defined recovery as 72 hours passing without a fever or cough, not assisted by medication.
There are five individuals with COVID-19 who are hospitalized, and eight still sick at home, Davis said. One individual has died, Davis said, now providing a more complex breakdown of the status of COVID-19 cases in Lane County.
Common symptoms showing in Lane County cases, according to LCPH, include “splitting” headaches and unexplainable fatigue. Gastrointestinal issues were experienced by about 10% of patients, Davis said. Loss of taste and smell were reported by half of Lane County cases.
Davis said that three weeks seems to be the average recovery time, among the four cases that have recovered.
LCPH shared a model yesterday, developed by Lane County’s health officer in partnership with health officers across the state, to provide a better idea of when to expect a peak in Lane County and what that peak may look like. Davis said that LCPH is trying to get less of a steep curve and is thankful that the county has not seen exponential growth of cases, something LCPH is nervous to see.
“What that is really showing us,” Davis said, “is the number of cases and the duration of time those cases are rolling in. If the curve is not very steep, then we’re able to really meet that demand, in terms of hospital capacity and our ability, just overall as a health system, to accommodate those cases.”
Davis said a flatter curve could indicate a longer duration of the outbreak, with a more gradual peak.
Purchasing rapid testing technology is under consideration, Davis said, but with no order date projected. The technology, from a California company, takes 5 minutes to show a positive case, and 15 minutes for a negative test result, according to Davis.
It is designed for a point of contact or a care setting, Davis said, typically located in a doctor’s office. Instead of needing a large amount of the raw materials needed to conduct the test, the materials would come in a smaller, prepackaged set.
“It definitely expands our testing capacity,” Davis said, “not to the tune of thousands or tens of thousands of individuals, but it allows for those interactions to happen at the doctor’s office, and then saves some of those tests from coming to our bigger labs, who are able to process those batch testing.”
Davis called it a promising technology that would be of “great use” to LCPH.
While a rapid test would change Lane County’s ability to test, and the criteria for testing, Davis said that it does not change the overall shortage of chemicals needed for testing.
Davis said that on Tuesday, a building was approved for purchase by the Board of County Commissioners. The initial use of the building will be to provide a space for the unhoused community. “We have agreements in place for individuals who are unhoused if they have symptoms of COVID or need to be isolated. We have some of those agreements in place; however, they are not at the level that we need them to be,” Davis said.
The building will allow “significant space” to provide isolation, with the same level of care for unhoused people as the level of care for the entire community, Davis said.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a developing story. Follow the Emerald’s website for the latest coverage.
