On the day that Lincoln County and its seven cities debated how and when to reopen businesses, restaurants and lodging, health department officials announced the county’s seventh positive case of COVID-19.
The county said the newest case is a person in their 60s who did not have any known contact with a person confirmed to have COVID-19. The person is not hospitalized and is self-isolating, according to public health guidelines.
“As we look towards slowly reopening, it is important to remember that the virus is still in our community” said Nicole Fields, deputy director of Public Health and Human Services for the county. “We must continue to physically distance, protect others, and keep clean. Together, we can keep Lincoln County open.”
Five of the seven patients have recovered, the health department said.
Lincoln County, population 50,000, has once of the lowest rates of positive COVID-19 rates in Oregon and is one of 13 counties — most of the others are in eastern Oregon — with seven or fewer confirmed cases.
More positive local cases were expected after Samaritan Health Services increased its testing capacity and the Oregon Health Authority and other agencies were helping test more than 60 crew members of the hake fishing fleet based in Newport.
As of Tuesday, Samaritan reported 919 tests in Lincoln County, more than 100 greater than the previous day.
Lincoln County’s previous cases involved:
- A person in their 80s who tested positive before an outpatient procedure. She is self-isolating.
- A person in their 60s who also acquired the coronavirus in the community.
- A person in their 30s who had no known contact with a confirmed case.
- A person over 80 who had contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
- A person in their 20s who had contact with someone outside the county confirmed to have the coronavirus and then tested positive.
- A Lincoln County resident who contracted COVID-19 while out of the county and was treated outside the county.
Later Thursday the Oregon Health Authority reported 67 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the state total to 3,479. It also said the virus had killed three people, raising the state’s death toll to 137.
