County clarifies state’s disclosure of virus death

Published 12:15 pm Thursday, October 14, 2021

Clatsop County has recorded 11 deaths from the coronavirus. 

The Oregon Health Authority said on Thursday that a 28th Clatsop County resident had died of the coronavirus, but the county’s Public Health Department said the person was from out of state and only happened to be visiting the area.

The health authority reported that the case involved a 60-year-old woman who died on Oct. 8 after testing positive on Oct. 6. The state had initially said she tested positive and died on Oct. 6.

The number of COVID-19 deaths in Clatsop County remains 27, the Public Health Department said.

Margo Lalich, the county’s interim public health director, said that such discrepancies are a normal occurrence in communicable disease investigations. “We’re working with a lot of data, so of course there’s going to be errors once in a while,” she said.

The Oregon Health Authority could not immediately be reached for comment.

The health authority, meanwhile, reported six new virus cases for the county on Friday and seven new virus cases on Thursday. Since the pandemic began, the county had recorded 2,395 virus cases as of Friday.

Marketplace