May 1, 2020
Today we’re sharing a lot of new information from Governor Brown about how testing and contact tracing will play key roles in decision-making about when to start re-opening Oregon. We’re also including links to new guidance and strategy documents from the Oregon Health Authority that support the governor’s plans. As you can see, we’re going to be calling on Oregonians to continue to be a part of the public health response to COVID-19. Together, we can contain the spread of this virus and keep each other safe and healthy.
Governor Kate Brown introduced new plans for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing, two foundational elements of her framework for reopening Oregon safely. Ensuring adequate testing capacity and contact tracing will allow Oregon’s health care system to effectively identify and treat new cases of COVID-19, trace contacts with new cases to identify those at risk for infection, and contain new outbreaks before community spread can occur.
Key elements of the testing plan include:
- Voluntary, widespread testing in partnership with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).
- Unified coordination among all hospital labs to optimize Oregon’s available testing capacity, acting as one statewide system that will allocate resources to meet the state’s testing needs in every region.
- A focus on collecting data to serve at-risk communities.
Governor Brown’s contact tracing plan sets a goal of training at least 600 contact tracers, deployed statewide by county, with a focus on recruiting individuals with cultural and linguistic competence for the populations they serve.
Video of Governor Brown’s press conference is available here.
More information about Oregon’s testing and contact tracing plans is available on the OHA website:
In recent weeks COVID-19 testing has increased to more than 9,000 tests per week in Oregon, with a cumulative total of more than 56,000 tests performed as of April 28. OHA estimates that 15,000 COVID-19 tests are needed statewide per week at this time.
Today the OHA changed its clinical testing guidelines for medical providers so more people with symptoms can be tested. OHA recommends that medical providers test for COVID-19 in people with symptoms consistent with COVID-19, with an added priority for testing people in higher risk groups. The testing guidelines also allow more testing for people without symptoms who live in or are employees, children, or other people in a care facility or group living setting.
The updated testing guidelines can be found on the OHA website.
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