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Health officials discuss coronavirus trends in Portland area


Portland bridges - Photo by Tristan Fortsch
Portland bridges - Photo by Tristan Fortsch
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PORTLAND, Ore. – Local health officials are still seeing community spread of the virus in the Portland metro area.

Health officials say recent sources of infections include wine tasting, block parties and camping trips, and the spread mostly involves younger adults.

Tri-county Health Officer Dr. Jennifer Vines says she's closely watching the number of cases going up among people in their twenties.

The spread in that age group is of much concern, and she says Washington County is launching a new awareness campaign this week.

Dr. Vines also commented on a religious service that brought hundreds to Portland’s Waterfront Park on Saturday, where crowds were not social distancing and very few people wore masks or face coverings.

RELATED |Prayer service draws crowd to Portland's waterfront park, few people wearing masks

She says events like this could spark an outbreak that would be very difficult to contact trace, especially since many people came from different parts of the state.

"Again, if people have come from other places, we may or may not see an increase in case that we can attribute to this event. As I’ve said before, it can be very difficult to pinpoint a spread to a mass gathering, even though we do ask about it," said Dr. Vines.

Dr. Vines says one of the ways each of us can show respect to -- and protect -- the people around us is to make sure that your mask covers both your nose and your mouth.

That goes for any time you're indoors, or if you're outside and can't maintain six feet of social distance.

“I just wanna be really clear. Any time you step inside anywhere, other than your home, please put on a mask. And we need people to take leadership on this, to own this and really view it as a form of respect, to the extent that there are cases of virus we are not picking up among people who feel fine and don't know they have the virus,” said Dr. Vines.

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