Coronavirus in Oregon: Second person under investigation tests negative for illness

An Oregon person who was under investigation as a possible case of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, has tested negative for the disease, state officials said Saturday.

© Nate Guidry, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP/oregonlive.com/TNS Matt Dunn, a researcher for the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh, holds dead samples of the coronavirus (COVID-19) at the Biomedical Science Tower 3 in Oakland, Pa.

The negative result is unrelated to the first presumptive case in Oregon, according to the Oregon Health Authority. Seven cases remain pending and four others have been completed, officials said. Three of the completed tests came back negative, with the one positive result being the case announced Friday, a worker at Forest Hills Elementary School in Lake Oswego.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: FULL COVERAGE

At least 88 other people are being monitored for the disease due to travel to a country where the illness is circulating, close contact with someone who has been stricken with the virus or a severe respiratory illness that has required hospitalization and has no other known diagnosis.

State officials said they will continue to approve tests for people who meet the criteria, a number that is likely to increase.

-- Kale Williams

kwilliams@oregonian.com

503-294-4048

@sfkale

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