The news moves pretty fast, and COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Oregon. The Daily Emerald summarized this week’s coronavirus updates. See what you might have missed:
Lane County
Lane County has had 426 confirmed and presumptive cases since the start of the pandemic. Forty-two cases are currently infectious, two residents are currently hospitalized and there have been three suspected COVID-19 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Lane County Public Health data. At least 35,526 tests have been conducted on residents.
Travel-related cases continue to be a significant trend, LCPH spokesperson Jason Davis said during Tuesday’s livestream. As of July 23, 40% of COVID-19 cases have been due to travel.
University of Oregon
Four University of Oregon students tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week, with a total of 40 cases in the UO community. The students are currently recovering in isolation, according to an email update from the university.
LCPH confirmed that two of the cases were travel-related and the other two are still under investigation.
Statewide
Oregon has seen a total of 15,713 cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. Oregon Health Authority reported 331 new confirmed and presumptive cases on July 23 alone. There have been 273 total reported deaths in Oregon, as of July 23.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced new measures to slow down the spread of the virus, which will go into effect July 24, at a press conference on July 22.
Oregon began requiring face coverings for people when exercising indoors, as well as outdoors when physical distancing is not possible, on Friday. The new guidelines require children ages five and up to wear face coverings. The measures also include a reduced capacity limit of 100 people indoors at restaurants, gyms and venues. The new guidelines require bars and restaurants to close at 10 p.m. statewide, even in counties already in phase two of reopening.
During the press conference, OHA State Health Officer Dr. Dean Sidelinger explained the reasoning for the new rules“We learn more about COVID-19 every day,” Sidelinger said. “The science is growing and [it’s] clear that masks slow the spread of COVID-19.”
Reduced gathering sizes and the statewide curfew are intended to curb the spread of COVID-19 by limiting the amount of people and time spent in confined spaces, according to Sidelinger. “The farther we are apart, the harder we make it for the virus to spread,” he said.
OHA also announced a new test site locator to help Oregonians find testing sites in their community. The interactive map is available in multiple languages and allows users to locate a nearby testing site by entering their address or selecting state, county or zip code.
Makenzie Elliott and Carrington Powell contributed to the reporting of this story.
