The Oregon Health Authority announced seven new cases of the novel coronavirus Sunday morning, doubling the number of known COVID-19 patients in Oregon.

Gov. Kate Brown said she is declaring a state of emergency to bring additional resources to the state’s response.

Sunday’s announcement brings the number of cases of the virus in Oregon to 14. Five of the new cases are in Washington County, officials said. Douglas and Marion counties announced their first cases.

All seven new cases are the result of the virus spreading within the community or contact with another known case; none are the result of international travel. Three patients were hospitalized at the time they were diagnosed.

At least one person with the novel coronavirus COVID-19 is being treated at the Oregon Health & Science University, according to a message sent to employees of the hospital Sunday morning.

“Because OHSU screens patients prior to admission, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, and asks anyone with respiratory symptoms to wear a mask,” the message says, “the risk of employee exposure is low.”

“We have been preparing for this moment since January,” the message reads. “This is what we do every day.”

Health officials from Marion, Douglas and Washington counties withheld the age, sex and condition of the newly identified coronavirus patients. Douglas County officials said only that the patient is “medically stable.”

Washington County officials said four new cases are linked to the state’s first case of coronavirus. The fifth isn’t linked to any known case and is likely the result of the virus circulating in the community.

The Douglas and Marion county cases are also believed to be the result of community spread.

As of Sunday, 100 Oregonians had tested negative for COVID-19, and another 53 tests were pending results. The state is monitoring 203 people who do not have symptoms but might have been exposed through contact with a patient or international travel.

No Oregon deaths have been linked to the coronavirus.

Oregon health officials are testing only people sick enough to be hospitalized who don’t have the flu, people with symptoms who also have traveled to the countries most affected by the coronavirus outbreak and people who have had contact with a person with the disease.

The Oregon Emergency Board on Monday will consider a $5 million funding request for the state’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Subscribe to our Oregon coronavirus newsletter: Email:

The first person to test positive for COVID-19 in Oregon was a male custodian between the ages of 40 and 50 at Forest Hills Elementary School in Lake Oswego. The man, who lives in Washington County, had not recently traveled, suggesting the case was attributable to community spread. The man remained hospitalized, his condition unknown as of Saturday.

On March 1, a second case was identified in a female relative of the man between the ages of 40 and 50. That woman is isolated at home.

The next day, the third case of community spread COVID-19 was announced in a man from Umatilla County between the ages of 60 and 70.

On Saturday, after a lull in new cases that lasted several days, health officials announced four cases: two in Jackson County, one in Klamath County and one in Washington County. Officials said three were travel-related while the Washington County case was the result of contact with an earlier patient with the virus.

Most infected people will have only mild, flu-like symptoms.

The World Health Organization said earlier this month that about 3.4% of COVID-19 cases reported globally have died. However, the actual death rate is believed to be significantly lower when unreported cases are taken into account. The mortality rate for COVID-19 increases with age.

More on coronavirus in Oregon