County reports 18th COVID death

The Oregon Health Authority reported an 18th death from COVID-19 in Yamhill County on Saturday, a 78-year-old man who tested positive Nov. 13 and died Nov. 20 at Willamette Valley Medical Center.

On Monday, the county reported 103 new cases since Saturday, bringing it to a total of 1,953 cases to date.

Oregon has now surpassed 2,000 new cases in a single day, and has seen more than 1,000 deaths from the pandemic. On Monday, the state reported 1,331 new cases, and 12 new deaths, bringing the state to a total of 85,788 cases to date, and 1,045 deaths.

OHA Director Patrick Allen said during a Friday press conference the state’s first shipment of vaccines is expected to arrive soon, “but it will be several months before it is available to the general public. Until then, it’s important to continue to minimize close contact with others, keep gatherings small, wear a face covering and wash hands frequently.”

Gov. Kate Brown warned “new modeling confirms our worst fears that this pandemic can indeed get much worse before we can get the majority of our population vaccinated. And it likely will. … It is possible that by Christmas, we will be reporting more than double the case rates we are seeing now.”

Yamhill County has experienced several recent outbreaks in workplaces and long-term care facilities. Long-term care facilities reporting new cases since the end of October are:

n Chehalem Health and Rehabilitation, reported Nov. 19, three cases.

n Marjorie House Memory Care, reported Nov. 10, seven cases.

n Vineyard Heights Assisted Living, reported Nov. 11, three cases.

n Parkland Village, reported Nov. 17, 11 cases.

n Friendsview Retirement Community, reported Nov. 27, four cases.

The state considers care facility outbreaks resolved once no new cases have been reported for 28 days. It reports outbreaks in facilities with more than five beds and three or more cases, or that have had deaths.

The state reports workplace outbreaks with five or more cases and for workplaces with at least 30 workers. Numbers may include family members of employees.

The following companies in Yamhill County have reported new cases since the end of October:

n Skyline Homes, McMinnville, reported Nov. 5, most recent onset Nov. 15, 26 cases.

n World Class Technology, McMinnville, reported Nov. 6, most recent onset Nov. 16, 17 cases.

n Beaudry’s Custom Woodworking, Newberg, reported Sept. 8, most recent onset Nov. 19, 11 cases.

n A-dec Inc., Newberg, reported Nov. 8, most recent onset Nov. 18, 10 cases.

Linfield University reports 17 cases since July. George Fox University reported no new cases in the first week of December.