PORTLAND, Ore — There are 78 active COVID-19 workplace outbreaks in Oregon as of this week. That’s five more than the 73 active workplace outbreaks reported last week by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA).
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 29 deaths associated with workplace outbreaks in Oregon during the pandemic.
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 518 coronavirus cases linked to the outbreak, with the most recent onset reported on Oct. 16. Ten inmates at the prison have died after testing positive for the coronavirus, including nine people since Sept. 6.
Three of the four largest active workplace outbreaks in Oregon are at prisons.
- Snake River Correctional Institution, Ontario: 518 cases (most)
- Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution, Pendleton: 423 cases (second-most)
- Two Rivers Correctional Institution, Umatilla: 128 cases (fourth-most)
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 190 cases, the third-largest active workplace outbreak in Oregon, with the most recent case reported on Oct. 6.
OHA also updated its list of businesses where COVID-19 outbreaks have been resolved. That list now includes 36 workplaces. Outbreaks are considered resolved if there hasn’t been a known case in 28 days.
The full workplace outbreak list was published in OHA's weekly report, which details the state’s response to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The data is current as of 11 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 18.
Oregon saw a slight drop in known COVID-19 cases last week, but the number of weekly cases was still one of the highest totals during the pandemic so far.
From Oct. 12-18, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported 2,327 new coronavirus cases. That was a 4% decline from the previous week’s pandemic high of 2,418 known cases.
