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State reports Marion County teen dies with Covid

A sign at Salem Hospital in March 2020 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)

The Oregon Health Authority announced Wednesday that a 19-year-old teen from Marion County died in December with Covid.

The man, who had underlying conditions, tested positive on Nov. 19 and died on Dec. 6 at Oregon Health Science University in Portland, the agency said. The health authority reports deaths only after receiving a death certificate, which can sometimes take weeks.

“Every death from COVID-19 is a loss for friends and families,” said Dr. Bukhosi Dube, senior health advisor with the Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division. “Today’s reported death of a 19-year-old, who had underlying conditions shows, again, that because a person may be younger than the most at-risk groups, they may still suffer life-threatening consequences from the virus.”

The state listed 97 new cases of Covid in Marion County, where the coronavirus is considered widespread. The county remains listed as at “extreme risk” of the virus. The Oregon Health Authority said the county recorded 1,989 cases over the two-week period ending Jan. 9. The state puts a county into high risk when cases over two weeks total 60 or more.

Marion County also posted a case rate of 572 per 100,000 population – more than double the rate to be put into extreme risk. The positive testing rate in the most recent two-week period was calculated at 12.7%.