PORTLAND, Ore. — There are 96 active COVID-19 workplace outbreaks in Oregon as of this week, up from 90 reported last week by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA). Nearly 10,000 people in the state have tested positive for the coronavirus in relation to workplace outbreaks.
Health officials track outbreaks of five or more employees at workplaces where there are at least 30 workers. An outbreak remains active if there has been a case within the past 28 days. The case count for each workplace includes everyone who is linked to the outbreak, whether they are workers or a close contact.
OHA said there have been 53 deaths and 9,773 cases associated with workplace outbreaks in Oregon during the pandemic. That’s eight more deaths and 747 more cases than officials reported last week.
The largest active outbreak remains at the Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario. The outbreak was first identified on June 24 and the case count has continued to rise since then. There have been 542 coronavirus cases linked to the outbreak, with the most recent onset reported on Nov. 12.
Three of the four largest active workplace outbreaks in Oregon are at prisons:
- Snake River Correctional Institution, Ontario: 542 cases (most)
- Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution, Pendleton: 505 cases (second-most)
- Oregon State Correctional Institution, Salem: 151 cases (fourth-most)
The list below includes active workplace outbreaks (Table 7), meaning that there has been a case within the past 28 days.
Food processing and packaging facilities have also been hot spots for COVID-19 outbreaks in the workplace. Lamb Weston, a potato processing facility in Hermiston, has been linked to 192 cases, the third-largest active workplace outbreak in Oregon, with the most recent case reported on Oct. 25.
The Fred Meyer distribution center in Clackamas has been connected to 85 cases, the seventh-largest active workplace outbreak in the state. The most recent case there was reported on Oct. 31.
An outbreak at the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office jumped from 14 known cases to 22, with the most recent onset listed as Nov. 8. An outbreak of nine cases at the Beaverton Police Department remains unchanged in the weekly report, with the last known onset being Oct. 31
Health officials also reported a list of 60 workplaces where COVID-19 outbreaks have been resolved (Table 8) over the last eight weeks. Outbreaks are considered resolved if there hasn’t been a known case in 28 days.
