CORONAVIRUS

Lane County Public Health: COVID-19 outbreaks in care facilities 'becoming a crisis'

Adam Duvernay
Register-Guard

The spread of COVID-19 in Lane County long-term care facilities is "quickly becoming a crisis."

There are 39 active COVID-19 outbreaks, amounting to about 350 individuals, in Lane County long-term care facilities, Lane County Public Health spokesman Jason Davis said at a weekly LCPH briefing Wednesday. The problem is due in large part to unvaccinated staff members still working at the facilities.

"We are hearing from residents in facilities about their fears. We're hearing from loved ones about the same thing. We're also hearing from the long-term care facilities about the challenges they're facing with staffing shortages and the unique environment in which they're trying to prevent infectious disease from spreading," Davis said.

At South Hills Rehabilitation Center, where an outbreak of 32 total cases saw 22 of those cases reported in the past seven days, about 88% of residents and 64% of staff members are vaccinated, Davis said. One facility resident died because of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

The outbreak has been traced to an unvaccinated staffer, Davis said. Lane County Public Health also has learned that the employee continued working while awaiting test results.

"This is just a really unfortunate situation. Despite staffing challenges at the facility, it's still something that can be prevented through vaccination," Davis said. 

It is not the first time such a situation has unfolded at county long-term health facilities, Davis said.

Health care workers in Oregon will be required to be vaccinated starting Oct. 18.

Other outbreaks at long-term care facilities include:

  • Avamere Riverpark of Eugene: 12 cases, 1 death
  • Bayberry Commons Memory Care in Springfield: 13 cases, 1 death
  • River Grove Memory Care in Eugene: 17 cases, 3 deaths
  • Gateway Living in Springfield: 81 cases, 6 deaths 

More:Springfield long-term care outbreak infects 64, kills 5; began with unvaccinated employee

School children at risk

Davis said school-aged children also are increasingly at risk. The school year began for most over the past two weeks, and though Davis said there is no evidence yet that COVID-19 is being spread in classrooms, health authorities expect there will soon.

"We do expect to see some transmission. Even though there's been a lot of diligence on behalf of our school partners, that's still very much a possibility," Davis said. "We have seen cases within school-age kids, we just don't have that direct link to be able to confidently say that the transmission happened in the classroom."

Davis said there are stronger epidemiological links in local cases to extracurricular activities, especially afterschool sports. The county has at least two active sport teams outbreaks, Davis said, as well as multiple other cases on teams around the county.

"That's something we're probably going to see more of," Davis said. 

There have been 203 pediatric COVID-19 cases within the past seven days, Davis said. None of those children was hospitalized, Davis said. 

Change of seasons

As rain and cold weather return and the sunlight begins to wane, there is an expectation people will return to indoor activities and continue spreading COVID-19, Davis said. 

"We are approaching a time when the weather will start to get rainier and rainier, which will drive people indoors and result in the increased possibility of transmission," he said.

Davis said Lane County case counts have been improving, but because so many are still unvaccinated, the risk of further surges is real and will increase during fall and winter.

"We can absolutely still see a dramatic case surge. We don't have enough protection from the vaccine, we don't have enough protection from natural immunity to confidently say we are out of the woods for surges," Davis said. "Everything that happens in the fall, where folks huddle together indoors, we still have the possibility to see large surges."

Davis said Lane County needs to not do what it has done in the past

"We can change that if we just buck precedent and don't go back to what we've seen our community do in the past, which is a really great job at helping to decrease the numbers but once we decrease the numbers, we have a habit of letting our guard down," he said.

By the numbers

Lane County reported six deaths and 167 confirmed or presumptive cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, raising the death toll to 244 and the countywide case count to 23,318.

There were 850 reported infectious, down nearly 8% from Tuesday's 922.

Three ICU beds were reported available in Lane County on Wednesday, down five from Tuesday's eight.

There were 61 from Lane County hospitalized, down 20% from Tuesday's 76. Of the 61, 14 were in intensive care, down two from Tuesday, and eight were on ventilators, unchanged from Tuesday.

Overall, including non-Lane County residents, there were 104 hospitalized, down three from Tuesday, with 27 in intensive care, unchanged from Tuesday, and 19 on a ventilator, up one from Tuesday.

Of the 61 hospitalized Lane County COVID-19 patients, 77%, or 47 of the 61, are unvaccinated, Lane County Public Health reported.

As of Monday, 244,787 people in Lane County had received first or second doses, 64.19% of the total population, with 457,004 first and second doses administered, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

OHA reported seven Lane County deaths Tuesday and released the following information Wednesday. They were:

  • A 75-year-old woman who tested positive Sept. 1 and died Sept. 12 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend. She had underlying conditions.
  • An 84-year-old man who tested positive Sept. 5 and died Sept. 12 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend. He had underlying conditions.
  • An 84-year-old man who tested positive Sept. 4 and died Sept. 12 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend. He had underlying conditions.
  • An 83-year-old man who tested positive Sept. 2 and died Sept. 13 at McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center. He had underlying conditions.
  • A 60-year-old man who tested positive Sept. 12 and died Sept. 12 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend. He had underlying conditions.
  • A 73-year-old woman who tested positive Sept. 11 and died Sept. 13 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend. She had underlying conditions.
  • A 98-year-old woman who tested positive Sept. 9 and died Sept. 9 at McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Contact reporter Adam Duvernay at aduvernay@registerguard.com. Follow on Twitter @DuvernayOR.