According to CNN on the 23rd, Oregon officials said that the two recent outbreaks of the coronavirus in the state are likely to be caused by the same “super communicator activity”.
Douglas County officials said last week that one person went to work with illness knowing that he had symptoms and later tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Officials say that two separate coronavirus cases have now been traced back to this person.
The first outbreak killed seven people, and hundreds of people were forced to self-quarantine after the second outbreak.
The Douglas County Government issued a statement on December 17: “One of the epidemics has killed seven people, while another recent epidemic has put more than 300 people/families into quarantine.
We can’t imagine how regretful these people are now, and we sympathize with them.”
County officials called the event a “super-communicator campaign” and called it “one of the most worrying problems we face at present”.
They also called on people to stay at home when they develop symptoms and to follow other safety norms.
Officials did not disclose the place of work for the infected person, nor did they disclose the specific hours when he was working during his illness.
Douglas County, located in southern Oregon, has a population of about 111,000, and as of the 22nd, a cumulative number of 1,315 coronavirus cases have been reported.
The county has seen 37 deaths from COVID-19, according to the latest data from the county, and nine patients are currently hospitalized for contracting the virus.
Last week, Oregon officials believed Douglas County was one of 29 counties in the state that were in “extreme danger” of spreading the virus.
As of the 22nd, Oregon has reported about 105,000 cumulative cases of COVID-19 and more than 1,300 deaths.
Since November, the number of infections in the state has been soaring.
