Record-high coronavirus case increases hit Lane County again; UO offers free testing to Lane County

Lane County Public Health reported 94 new COVID-19 cases Thursday. This follows Wednesday's record-breaking increase of 116 cases.

"We are seeing drastically higher case numbers, nearly double what we saw last week, triple from the week before," Jason Davis, Lane County Public Health spokesman, said at a press conference Thursday.

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As of Thursday, 24 county residents were hospitalized for the virus, four of which are in intensive care. Additionally, 416 remain infectious, meaning they are within 10 days of their symptom onset and are considered by officials as capable of passing on the virus. Infectious people are asked by county public health staff to quarantine.

More: What to expect if you get a call from a COVID-19 contact tracer

Public health staff are monitoring 665 people for symptoms of the virus. There have been 3,594 cases in the county.

Free COVID-19 testing at the University of Oregon, which was initially limited to students and employees, will now be available to all Lane County residents at the Matthew Knight Arena on Friday, Nov. 20, Monday, Nov. 23, and Tuesday, Nov. 24, Kay Jarvis, a spokeswoman for the UO, said at Thursday's news conference.

Tests will be available to community members who are not showing symptoms of the virus on a first-come, first-served basis. Pre-registration is required and can be done online on the MAP registration portal. This portal will be updated every week for registrations the following week.

The university can handle up to 4,000 nasal swabs a week.

"We are happy to extend limited free testing to Lane County residents," Jarvis said. "These asymptomatic testing events are a great way for lane county residents to help suppress the spread of COVID-19."

UO reported five new cases from within the university community Thursday. The UO's numbers are part of the county's total and are often a day behind, meaning Thursday's numbers account for Wednesday's reported cases. UO has had 33 cases in the last week and 607 total cases since June 1.

More: No transparency, illusion of inclusion: UO employee unions speak out about COVID-19 working conditions

On Thursday, Davis reiterated that public health is advising people not to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday as the county is still dealing with virus spread caused by Halloween parties.

"We have six cases from a Halloween party that turned into 14 secondary cases," Davis said, illustrating how quickly cases can spread. "One of those secondary cases caused a workplace outbreak, which then resulted in three cases, which then resulted in eight secondary cases."

Thirty-seven Lane County residents have died from the virus.

"There's lives at stake and there's well-being at stake. There are businesses at stake," Davis said. "So please, please don't travel. Endeavor to have your Thanksgiving holiday be a virtual one."

More: What does the COVID-19 ‘freeze’ mean for Lane County?

Contact reporter Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick at Tatiana@registerguard.com or 541-338-2454, and follow her on Twitter @TatianaSophiaPT. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Record-high coronavirus case increases hit Lane County again; UO offers free testing to Lane County

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