Lane County investigates COVID-19 cases, death

Officials are investigating the two known cases of coronavirus in Lane County, one of which resulted in the state's second death related to the virus.

Kezi 9 news reporter chris lueneburg who has the latest on that tragic death we first told you about late last night.

Two cases of coronavirus in the eugene springfield area-- one deadly... eye opening for many.

"i think we can expect the case number start to go up."

The first-- a 69 year old man who had contact with two individuals-- both of whom are in self- isolation.... the second-- the deceased 60 year old woman... who had self- quarentined starting on the third-- when symptoms began appearing.

"you can kind of see that ramp-up... a week or so of increased symptoms and then her untimely passing."

She came into contact with 9 eugene springfield first responders on the way to the hospital-- all of whom are quarentined for two weeks.... peacehealth officials say they are still investigating which caretakers had contact with the woman-- and the extent of the protective equipment that was used.

"the phsycicians who responded and cared for her in the emergency department felt in their judgement that she was at risk, or saw things that made them suspicious for coronavirus."

But for now-- officials are taking precautions to make sure those caregivers aren't posing a risk.

"officials say that more tests are still needed- under current guidelines-- in many cases symptoms must be severe enough for hospitalization for a person to receive a test."

While testing availability is on the rise-- health officials say frustrations are shared.... but healthcare providers must make the decision about if you need testing.

"the criteria remains a fever, a cough and also difficulty breathing right now.

So really, the people that are receiving priority for testing are individuals who would need hospitalization."

As of today-- 98 tests have been completed in lane county... 15 of which are pending.

Reporting in eugene i'm chris lueneburg kezi 9