State announces new presumptive coronavirus cases in Marion, Polk counties
The Marion County Health and Human Services headquarters in Salem (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
Oregon health officials announced four new presumptive cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, including a second Marion County case and Polk County’s first case.
The new Marion County case is unrelated to the first case here announced Sunday, the Oregon Health Authority said in a news release. Neither the Marion nor Polk county patients traveled to a county where the virus is known to be spreading widely or had known contact with another confirmed case.
One of the Marion County patients is being treated at Salem Health, hospital spokesman Elijah Penner said in a news release Wednesday evening. The hospital has negative airflow rooms and other precautions in place to house patients with the virus and avoid spreading it to others.
The Marion County case is an adult, county spokeswoman Jolene Kelley said. As with the earlier case, she said state health officials have asked counties not to share the patient’s age, gender, health condition or a more specific location.
Polk County health officer Kristty Polanco also declined to share additional details about the case.
State officials also announced new cases in Umatilla and Deschutes counties.
The announcement brings the total number of Oregon cases to 19, with two of those confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Statewide, just over half the cases are in patients 55 and older. Older people typically experience more severe cases of the disease. About half were hospitalized at the time they were tested, OHA data says.
Oregon’s public health lab still has 62 tests pending.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander at [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers education, economic development and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for over a decade and is a past president of Oregon's Society of Professional Journalists chapter. Outside of work, you can often find her gardening or with her nose buried in a book.
