Regional COVID-19 updates: 2 deaths in OR, 12k test kits recalled in WA

This story will be updated throughout the day

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Here is the latest information from April 19, 2020, in Oregon and Southwest Washington in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic:

Two new deaths bring Oregon total to 74

COVID-19 has taken the lives of two more Oregonians, according to data provided by the Oregon Health Authority Sunday.

The two new reported deaths bring the state’s death toll to 74.

The latest casualties were two men in their 60s. One was 64-year-old Benton County man who tested positive on March 26 and died on April 18 at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. He had underlying medical conditions. The other was a 68-year-old man from Washington County who tested positive on March 23 and died on April 11 at OHSU. He also had underlying conditions.

There were also an additional 66 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Oregon. The new COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Clackamas (7), Deschutes (1), Lane (2), Marion (23), Multnomah (21), Umatilla (1), and Washington (12). A total of 1,910 people in the state have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Washington’s case numbers decline from the day before

The Washington state Department of Health has adjusted the number of coronavirus cases.—in a Sunday update, the number dropped from the figure that was reported the day before.

On Saturday, the DoH reported that 11,802 people had been diagnosed with the coronavirus and 624 people had died from the virus.

On Sunday, the DoH reported that 11,790 people in the state have been diagnosed with the virus and 634 have died. Ten more people have died from the virus, however, the number of cases in the state dropped by 12.

KOIN 6 News is inquiring about the discrepancy.

Unemployment ‘re-start claim’ issue resurfaced again Sunday

The restart claim issue that occurred last weekend for Oregonians filing for unemployment briefly resurfaced again Sunday.

The issue was fixed by late morning. The State of Oregon’s Employment Department said roughly 100,000 people successfully filed initial or weekly claims Sunday.

“That record level of online claim processing, paired with other weekend system maintenance, is what caused the re-start claim issue we saw last weekend to happen again,” a spokesperson for the agency said. “We care about everyone’s ability to successfully process their claims, and continue working hard to improve our systems, while also getting new benefit programs up and running.”

Washington recalls 12,000 COVID-19 test kits due to possible contamination

Health officials at the University of Washington ordered the Washington State Department of Health to discontinue the use of a recently-procured batch of coronavirus collection kits. They said there is a potential quality control issue.

“Though the quality control issue has only been observed in a small number of tubes of viral transport media, we adhere to the highest quality standards for COVID-19 testing in Washington state,” said Secretary of Health John Wiesman in a release Sunday. “We are working with our partners to have them discard the product and will work to replace them as quickly as we can.”

Viral transport media (VTM) is the fluid that preserves a specimen during transport, such as one collected via nasal swab from a person being tested for COVID-19.

No other supplies previously used for testing are impacted by this recall. Jurisdictions who received these kits are encouraged to contact DOH for a new shipment of swabs and VTM transport tubes for replacement. 

Protesters rally against Washington stay-at-home orders

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Hundreds of people gathered at the Washington state Capitol to protest Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order designed to combat the spread of the coronavirus, holding signs that read “End The Shutdown” and “Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Covid 19!”

In Olympia on Sunday some protesters wore masks, while others waved American flags. Tyler Miller, one of the organizers of the event, had said rural areas should be treated differently than more urban locations with more coronavirus cases.

Earlier Sunday, Inslee again blasted President Donald Trump‘s call to “liberate” parts of the country from social-distancing decrees, saying Trump is fomenting a potentially deadly “insubordination” before the pandemic is contained.

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This article was written with contributions from the Associated Press.