The Oregon Health Authority announced Wasco County’s first presumptive positive case of COVID-19 in a resident of the Oregon Veterans’ Home in The Dalles on Thursday, March 26. The second case was identified in a patient that had already been hospitalized at Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles on Friday, March 27. The two cases are not linked, according to the Wasco, Sherman and Gilliam Unified Command Team.
North Central Public Health District is working closely with the Oregon Health Authority to identify any additional cases and protect the residents and dedicated staff of the Oregon Veterans’ Home.
There is fear that the disease will spread inside the Oregon Veterans’ Home in The Dalles as it at the Edward C. Allworth Oregon Veterans’ Home in Lebanon earlier this month.
Of the 151 people who live at Edward C. Allworth Oregon Veterans’ Home in Lebanon, 14 tested positive for COVID-19 and one of them died from it last weekend.
The individual who resides at the Veterans’ Home in The Dalles is a male resident in the 60-80 age range, according to the Oregon Health Authority. He had no known contact with a confirmed case and had not traveled to a country where the virus is circulating, so the case is being investigated as a community-acquired case. He has been in isolation since March 19, 2020.
The Oregon Veterans’ Home in The Dalles is the oldest in the state, first opening its doors in 1997.
“On behalf of North Central Public Health District, I would like to extend support to those affected by the diagnosis of COVID-19 in this beloved individual who served our country, and to commend the incredible work of the staff of Oregon Veterans’ Home in The Dalles. They have worked diligently and tirelessly to care for their residents,” said Dr. Miriam McDonell, Health Officer for North Central Public Health District.