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With cases spiking, Marion County offers free Covid testing event at state fairgrounds

A Covid-19 test swab is packaged up to be tested during a free drive-through testing clinic at Woodburn Ambulance Service on Tuesday, August 25. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)

Marion County is hosting a free Covid testing clinic at the Oregon State Fairgrounds Wednesday as health officials warn the virus is spreading at higher rates among Oregonians.

The county has recorded 382 new cases of the virus in the past week, the highest one-week total since the pandemic began. That includes a record of 86 cases posted Oct. 25, with 71 more added today.

Higher testing rates explain much, but not all, of the increase. The county has posted data on test results for 3,809 people over the past seven days, compared with 2,798 the week prior.

But the percentage of tests that came back positive – a rough indicator of how widespread the virus is in the community – also rose. Last week, 10% of people tested for Covid were positive, versus about 7% the week before, according to a Salem Reporter analysis of Marion County data.

Jolene Kelley, spokeswoman for Marion County, said health workers are still investigating those cases to determine how people got sick.

“We are also seeing a high percentage of large, private, indoor social gatherings,” she said in an email. That echoes warnings from Oregon Health Authority doctors over the past few weeks, who have said repeatedly that small social gatherings are behind the virus’ increasing spread statewide.

Marion County to date has recorded 5,928 cases of Covid, 449 hospitalizations and 108 deaths.

Oregon’s hospitalization rate from the virus has ticked up over the past month after falling for much of September, though hospitalization rates for Marion and Polk county have been flatter than the statewide numbers. As of Oct. 27, there are 32 Covid patients hospitalized in the Mid-Willamette Valley and 147 statewide, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

Anyone age 7 or older can get a free test through the county health department at the Oregon State Fairgrounds from 4-7 p.m. Oct. 28.

Preregistration is not required, and the county has 500 tests available, Kelley said.

The drive-through clinic will use tests that require lab processing, not rapid tests that produce results in a few minutes, Kelley said. Rapid tests give results faster but are less accurate in detecting the virus, meaning more people get a false negative.

Kelley said the county is partnering with Willamette Valley Toxicology to process the tests.

Anyone with questions about the event should call (503) 576-4602. More information is available on Facebook.

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Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [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 city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.