Jackson County reports two more deaths from COVID-19; 65 new cases

MEDFORD, Oregon – Jackson County Public Health reported on Wednesday that two more people died over the weekend from coronavirus, bringing the county’s death toll to 37.

Public health officials said a 79-year-old man tested positive on October 23 and died on November 28. A 74-year-old woman tested positive on November 15 and died on November 29. Both died at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center. . While the man had underlying health issues, the presence of underlying conditions in the woman is still being confirmed.

Jackson County also reported 65 new cases of the virus on Wednesday, bringing the county’s total since the start of the pandemic to 4,018. Based on county data, nearly 700 of those cases are still considered active infections.

While the number of daily cases in Jackson County has gradually declined over the past week – suggesting that the post-Halloween outbreak has started to wane somewhat – health officials are still overwhelmed by the number of existing cases and are preparing for the planned spread of Thanksgiving gatherings.

“Due to the increase in the number of cases and depending on when test results are reported to the local public health authority, cases and close contacts may not hear from local health departments in a timely manner. Jackson County Public Health warned in a statement. “Additionally, if a case is reluctant to name people they may have exposed while they were contagious during the interview process or refuse to answer calls from public health services, contact tracers will not be able to. inform close contacts of cases.

If your test is positive or you’re in close contact with someone who has it, Jackson County says it has information to ‘overcome some of these obstacles’ – directing people to the COVID webpage – 19 of the county. The page has details on what to do if you test positive, including notifying your close contacts and what to do if you’ve been with someone infected with the virus.

The county’s ongoing assessment of outbreaks at local long-term care facilities found no new deaths and relatively stable case rates between Tuesday and Wednesday. According to Tuesday’s report, only three of those outbreaks had resulted in a total of 23 deaths.