COVID-19 Situation Status Report – March 18, 2020

Overview

Summary as of: March 18, 2020 at 4:00 pm

Coos County Testing Data

COVID-19 Updates for Today

• At this time, Coos County Public Health knows of 45 COVID-19 tests that have been administered to county residents. 24 are pending results.
• Since yesterday’s update, Oregon Health Authority reported 75 positive cases of COVID-19 in Oregon.
• As of March 18th 2020, the CDC reported 7,038 total cases, 97 total deaths, and 49 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and US Virgin Islands reporting cases.
• As of March 17^th, the World Health Organization reported 179 111 confirmed cases (11,525 new cases) and 7,426 deaths (475 new).
• The next COVID-19 situation update will be sent on March 19, 2020. We are not sending out updates on the weekend because official counts from CDC are only updated on Mondays through Fridays.
• Availability of tests sample kits are still low and testing is being prioritized for people with more severe symptoms and/or a known exposure.
• Coos County declared a state of emergency due to COVID-19 effective 3.17.2020.
• Declaration from Governor Kate Brown from 3.16.2020.
• Virtual Town hall on Coos Health & Wellness Facebook page every Tuesday 5:30 to 6:30 pm.

Coos County Public Health Response to Date

The Public Health Division at Coos Health & Wellness has been working since the end of January 2020 on keeping our community safe and prepared to handle a COVID-19 case. We have been working with the healthcare, hospital and first responders system in order to develop protocols and communication that ensure healthcare workers, first responders, and patients’ safety around COVID-19. We have taken inventory of the stock of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in the county and have ordered and received additional PPE from the Oregon stockpile. This is in the process of being distributed to our partners.

One of the daily tasks we conduct in Public Health is to manage communicable diseases reports and outbreaks. We are therefore fully prepared to ensure case investigation and tracing for COVID-19. When a positive case of COVID-19 is identified in our community, our public health team will work on contact tracing to identify and notify individuals who might have been exposed to the disease.

We have stood up our organization’s Emergency Operations Center, which allows us to fully prioritize our preparedness and response to COVID-19. We have also developed a team of outreach public health nurses and workers dedicated to ensure our community has all of the answers it needs about the disease and about how to prevent its spread.

Our public information team set up a page on our website that is fully dedicated to COVID-19 and that provides our community with the latest information and guidance about the disease.

We continue to work closely with local schools, healthcare providers, emergency services, cities, businesses, and others to coordinate efforts and to share the most up-to-date information.

COVID-19 Situation in Oregon

Oregon Health Authority Situation in Oregon – COVID-19

Additional Information and Resources

Visit our COVID-19 page at: cooshealthandwellness.org/public-health/novel-coronavirus-2019-covid-19 or email us at covid19.questions@chw.coos.or.us