PORTLAND, Ore. — Gov. Kate Brown on Friday announced that Umatilla County has been added back to Oregon’s COVID-19 County Watch List.
Umatilla County, which is in Phase 2 of reopening, had been removed from the list on September 18.
"This is the first time we have seen a county added back to the Watch List," Brown said in a news release. "Combined with yesterday's record-high statewide case count, this is a sign that we must tread cautiously or we risk losing the gains we've made in slowing the spread of COVID-19. My priority is getting kids in every county safely back in school—but that will become more and more difficult if COVID-19 case numbers spike."
The list allows the state to prioritize resources, including contact tracing help, in the counties where the virus is spreading more rapidly and health officials cannot trace cases to a known source.
INTERACTIVE: Oregon coronavirus map
These untraced cases, known as sporadic cases, are a marker of coronavirus spreading in a community. According to the governor's office, counties have rapid community spread when there is a sporadic case rate of 50 or more per 100,000 people in the past two weeks and there have been more than five sporadic cases in the same time frame.
Once a county is on the watch list, it must remain on the list for at least three weeks, until sporadic case rates drop below the marker.
The watch list now includes four Oregon counties: Benton, Clatsop, Malheur and Umatilla.
Oregon has reported more than 400 new coronavirus cases the past two days. On Thursday, the Oregon Health Authority reported 484 new cases, a single-day record for the state. Earlier this week, health officials said known COVID-19 cases have increased by 25% since the end of August.
