Health officials struggle to trace coronavirus cases, as JaCo hits record 70 cases in a day

JACKSON COUNTY, Ore. — Jackson County Public Health announced there are 70 new cases of COVID-19 in the area.

That breaks the previous record of 69 cases in one day.

Public Health Officer, Dr. Jim Shames, says people need to take the dangers of the pandemic seriously and continue to socially distance, as this staggering number of cases is most likely tied to people interacting with one another regularly.

Dr. Shames says there are many small and large outbreaks in the community.

He says contact tracing is becoming more difficult, with some people refusing to cooperate or give information to Jackson County Public Health tracers.

“We have both identifiable spread in households and outbreaks, and then we have lots of cases, you know, where we can’t track them anywhere,” Dr. Shames said.

Dr. Shames and Jackson County Health and Human Services hosted two testing events a couple weeks ago.

Dr. Shames confirms that 10 of the 70 positive cases today, came from those testing events.

As the holidays approach, Dr. Shames says you should only invite people over from your inner circle and you should continue to maintain social distancing.

 

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