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(Update: Fourth Oregon COVID-19 death reported in Marion County)

26 new cases as Deschutes County tally rises to 8; 17 counties report cases

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Marion County Friday evening reported its first death from COVID-19, Oregon's fourth death from the viral outbreak.

County officials said they won't release patient information "for the family's privacy."

"Marion County Health and Human Services continues to take necessary, carefully considered steps to slow down the spread of the disease and to protect those at greatest risk," the announcement said.

"Our top priority continues to be protecting the health of our community. It is critical that individuals and organizations take action to slow the spread of the virus and follow the guidance and recommendations from health care professionals."

County Commissioner and Chairman Colm Willis said, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, and we ask everyone to continue to take necessary precautions to minimize your exposure to COVID-19.”

Earlier, the Oregon Health Authority reported 26 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday -- including two in Deschutes County -- the biggest statewide increase in a single day, bringing the total to 114, as of 8:30 a.m. Josephine County later reported its first case, raising the daily total to 27 and overall to 115.

The new COVID-19 cases reported Friday by OHA were in the following counties: Clackamas (4), Deschutes (2), Grant (1), Linn (1), Marion (4), Multnomah (5), Union (1), Washington (6), Yamhill (2).

OHA reports new cases once a day on its website: www.healthoregon.org/coronavirus.

The cases in Grant and Union counties are their first, and brought to 16 the number of Oregon counties to report cases of COVID-19.

Later Friday, Josephine County reported its first COVID-19 case, bringing the tally to 115 and number of counties with cases to 17, or nearly half of the state's 36 counties.

The most have been in Washington County, with 31 cases, followed by Linn County with 19, Marion County's 17 cases, 12 in Multnomah County and 10 in Clackamas County. Deschutes County has now had eight cases reported.

The state also reported 2,003 negative COVID-19 test results as of Friday and another 433 tests that are pending.

Of the 114 Oregon COVID-19 cases, 66 involved people 55 and older, 34 in the 35-54 age range, six 25-34, four 18-24 and four 17 or younger.

The OHA recently added these footnotes to the numbers:

OHA updates this data daily. Updates include:

Cases from the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory​.

Cases from commercial and out-of-state laboratories.

Cases and deaths by county.

Cases by age group.

Notes:

Because community transmission is occurring in Oregon and recommendations on social distancing are in place, as of March 17, we no longer report daily counts of persons under monitoring. Confirmation by CDC of laboratory results from the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory is no longer required; therefore as of March 15, we no longer note the number of CDC-confirmed cases. Reporting of travel history and nature of illness is not available for cases reported to OHA by commercial laboratories; therefore as of March 15, we no longer include information about travel or hospitalization status.

Stay informed about COVID-19:

Oregon response: The Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Office of Emergency Management lead the state response.

United States response: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention leads the U.S. response.

Global response: The World Health Organization guides the global response.