The Malheur County Health Department (MCHD) announced three lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases from the afternoon of April 29^th through April 30th, bringing the total Malheur County case count to ten. Health Department Nurses are in contact with these individuals and are conducting intensive contact investigations in accordance with Oregon Health Authority (OHA) investigative guidelines. Two of these individuals have been identified as close contacts. All of these individuals are self-isolating and recovering at home and no resident of Malheur County who has tested positive for COVID-19 has been hospitalized yet. There have been no reported deaths due to COVID-19 in Malheur County. More demographic data can be found on the COVID-19 Cases page: https://malheurhealth.org/covid-19-cases/

Both the short-term and long-term success of containing COVID-19 in Malheur County and our bordering communities hinges on every single resident adhering to the “Stay Home Save Lives” order. Sarah Poe, Malheur County Health Department Director, pleads with the public to “maintain social distancing, stay home unless absolutely necessary, and help fight the spread with proper hand-washing and disinfecting surfaces. If you do leave home, wear a cloth face covering when you will be around other people. The county will not be able to proceed with plans for reopening with a significant increase in cases. It is our responsibility to protect each other and take this seriously.”

Anyone who is exhibiting any symptoms of respiratory illness must stay home from work and all other activities for 72-hours after all symptoms have resolved. If you are a close contact of a positive case, please follow public health instruction, monitor for symptoms, and reduce the risk of transmitting the virus while asymptomatic. This is an unusual situation with an unknown endpoint. Increased stress and anxiety are likely. Malheur County Health Department encourages everyone to continue to prioritize physical and mental health during this time. Call the MCHD office at 541-889-7279 to find out more about essential services such as WIC and nurse check in for families with a child 5 and younger, immunizations, birth control, peer support for people who use drugs, OHP (Medicaid) application assistance, and more.

Increased community spread of COVID-19 can occur anywhere in Malheur County at any time. If you are exhibiting symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, diarrhea, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, or loss of taste and smell, call your primary care provider FIRST to discuss the next steps. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911.

For more information:

• For general information, call 211
• OHA: www.healthoregon.org/coronavirus 
• CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html 
• WHO: https://www.who.int/westernpacific/emergencies/novel-coronavirus 
• MCHD: https://malheurhealth.org