• Wash your hands often with soap and water. Use hand sanitizer if you don't have access to soap and water.
• Avoid touching your face, especially eyes, nose and mouth.
• Stay home if you are sick. Avoid contact with people who are sick.
• Cover your coughs and sneezes. Throw used tissues in the trash promptly.
• Take care of your health by eating well, getting adequate sleep, exercising and managing stress will also help your body stay resilient.

• ¿Cómo puedo evitar contraer el nuevo coronavirus (COVID-19)?
• 如何避免感染新型冠状病毒 (COVID-19)？
• 如何才能避免感染新型冠狀病毒 (COVID-19)？
• Как я могу избежать заражения новым коронавирусом (COVID-19)?
• Làm thế nào tôi có thể tránh bị nhiễm vi-rút corona chủng mới (COVID-19)?

There are detailed recommendations for healthcare providers to protect themselves using special types of masks and other equipment.

Masks, face shields and face coverings are currently required statewide for indoor public spaces (for example, grocery stores, pharmacies, public transit, personal services providers, restaurants, bars, retail stores, and more). In addition, face coverings are required in outdoor public spaces when physical distancing is not possible.

Children age 5 and up are required to wear a mask, face shield or face covering. Face coverings are now required when exercising indoors, plus outdoors when you can’t physically distance.

People with a disability or medical condition may request accommodation from the business if they cannot wear a mask, face shield or face covering.

Oregon Mask Requirements

We wear face coverings to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Face coverings help us keep our respiratory droplets to ourselves, which means people who wear them prevent spreading the virus to others.   Some people are contagious before they ever get symptoms and some never feel sick. They can spread the disease unknowingly.  Once you have a viral infection, wearing a face covering does not make it worse or make it last longer. It does, however, help you keep from spreading or passing it on it to others.

There are many types of face coverings, scarves, bandanas, and homemade coverings with loops that go over the ears.  Be sure your face covering fits well and covers your nose and mouth.  Wash your hands before and after touching your face covering and wash it daily.

Face coverings don’t cause enough carbon dioxide build-up to cause ill effects in otherwise healthy people. In fact, masks have a tighter seal than face coverings, and farm workers, custodial staff, and hospital employees all wear them to stay safe in their workplaces.

Remember, though, that the following people should not wear face coverings:

• Children under age 2 years

• Anyone who has a medical condition that makes it hard to breathe when wearing a face covering.

• Anyone who has a disability that prevents the individual from wearing a face covering.

Volunteers are making these cloth face coverings locally using various patterns. The principles are the same regardless of design.

Click here for instructions on how to make a few different cloth face coverings.

Clinicians can order COVID-19 testing at their discretion. Public Health approval is not needed for this testing. Factors to consider include patient symptoms, underlying medical conditions, and contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients.
Clinical Testing sites

Patients with new onset of symptoms consistent with COVID-19 are recommended for testing according to the guidelines detailed below. COVID-19 infection often causes fever, cough, and some trouble breathing. Some people have mild symptoms. Other people can get quite sick.

Currently, there are two types of tests used locally that are approved by the FDA to diagnose active cases.

1.     A molecular RT-PCR test that finds genetic material.

2.     An antigen test that looks for specific proteins on the surface of the virus.

Antibody tests are a third kind of test and are not approved for diagnosis; as they don’t tell us if the infection is active or not.

New FDA approved tests are being added regularly. You can find more information about them here. Please consult with your medical provider to find the appropriate test for you.

Yes.  Lane County Public health will conduct a Communicable Disease Investigation of every confirmed or presumptive case of COVID-19. 

This begins with a contact investigation, which includes establishing a timeline for when the patient started feeling sick, any traveling they might have done, who they might have had contact with in the days before they got sick, and who they may have come into contact with after they got sick.

Contact investigations are conducted by a trained communicable disease nurse and your medical information is protected by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
 

This process helps keep our community safe by making sure those people who need to be quarantined do so and helps us understand the way the disease behaves and how it is moving through the community.

No. COVID-19 shows no preference in how it spreads and it can be contracted by anyone regardless of age, gender, race or ethnicity.

People with weakened immune systems, people over 65 and children under 2 years old may experience more severe symptoms and consequences if they contract COVID-19 because their immune systems are not fully functional.

Lane County Public Health does not recommend back to work verification for any employee in Lane County.

Employees are encouraged to follow the advice of their healthcare provider. Oregon Health Authority guidelines state the employee should not be in the workplace until the following criteria have been met: 24 hours has passed since recovery  (defined as resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and improvement in respiratory symptoms); and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared. This will help reduce the strain on our medical and hospital systems.

Lane County Public Health cannot provide clearance for return to work. Only your medical provider can order testing for COVID-19. 

You can find more information from the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) regarding sick time laws and other employer and employee resources.

Patient privacy laws severely restrict the amount of information that public health officials can share about individual patients.

If a patient under investigation for potential COVID-19 transmission was found to have reported to work within the potential window of transmission their place of employment would become part of the investigation. In that case, Lane County Public Health would reach out to the business owner/operator.

If, during the course of a Communicable Disease Investigation (see FAQ above), it is determined that your business or place of work is a possible public contact exposure location a wider community notification with the date, time a place would occur.

In both cases, the employer may not know or have confirmed which employee is under investigation.

We ask that everyone respect patient privacy and refrain from sharing personal details even if the information is shared by non-Public Health sources. Providing personal details can compromise the safety of the person being investigated.

More Information on Contact Tracing for Businesses can be found here.

Lane County Public Health has protocols in place to care for unhoused individuals should the need arise. We are in active communication with our social service partners regarding additional planning, as well as sharing information and planning resources with other agencies around the state.

If you have a specific question about planning for the unhoused community, please email us.