The number of healthcare workers at major hospitals in Oregon and Southwest Washington who have contracted COVID-19 now stands at 57. That’s up from 31 just three days ago.

The numbers are still small. But the increase is steep.

Oregon Health & Science University as of Thursday had 19 staffers with COVID-19, compared to 12 on Monday. Providence Health and Service’s tally climbed from 10 to 16.

PeaceHealth, which operates hospitals in Vancouver and in Lane County, reported Thursday that 14 of its employees have the disease caused by the coronavirus. It’s unclear what PeaceHealth’s total was Tuesday.

Legacy’s number of infected employees remained at 8.

Kaiser Permanente, alone among the major healthcare players in the metro area, has declined to release its number. The totals from other hospitals, though, suggest a sharp increase.

“I think it’s very concerning and hopefully we don’t see that as a trendline,” said Stacy Chamberlain, executive director of Council 75 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “It goes to the point of the importance of PPE (personal protection equipment,) and the need for continued testing of employees.”

AFSCME represents thousands of workers at OHSU and has been a vocal critic of hospitals that don’t have enough face masks, face shields, gowns and gloves for its employees. The virus that causes COVID-19 is highly infectious. It can be spread through direct contact, in water droplets such as those ejected during a sneeze, and, in some circumstances through the air.

But a shortage of face masks and other safety gear developed at the worst possible time, in part because many of the Chinese factories that make the products were shut down by the outbreak.

“We have 14 caregivers who have tested positive as a result of community or non-patient exposures,” spokesman Jeremy Rush said.

It’s unclear if the community exposure that sickened the PeaceHealth employees took place inside the hospital where they worked.

Globally, more than a million people have contracted the virus and more than 53,000 have died. Chinese authorities reported that about 3,300 health care workers there contracted the virus. The British Medical Journal, citing Italian authorities, reported last month that as many as 9,000 Italian health care workers developed COVID-19.

The total number of health care workers killed by the disease is unclear.

The number of infected health care workers here is in all likelihood higher than 57. The same is true for the general public. Some who contract the virus show no symptoms. Others get only slightly ill and write it off as a cold or flu.

Plus, the lack of widespread testing has made a more realistic number hard to come by.

Like PPE, testing has become a contentious issue among workers. Some complain the hospitals have rejected their requests to be tested. Kevin Mealy, of the Oregon Nurses Association, said hospitals that don’t give their frontline health care workers adequate PPE have a moral obligation to test them for COVID-19 if they request one.

Otherwise, “you’re risk spreading the disease rather than controlling it,” Mealy said.

CORRECTION: This story incorrectly stated the total number of COVID-19 deaths among health care workers in China and Italy. There does not seem to be an authoritative source for the number of deaths. But by most accounts the total is in the hundreds not the thousands.

Jeff Manning

503-294-7606

971-263-5164

jmanning@oregonian.com