Mysterious coronavirus outbreak at unnamed business comes as Multnomah County seeks to reopen - OregonLive

The Oregon Health Authority announced a coronavirus outbreak Wednesday that has infected dozens of people in the Portland metro area but the agency declined to immediately release details about the business involved.

State health officials announced 71 new infections statewide Wednesday, with 41 of those Multnomah County residents and five Washington County residents.

Jennifer Vines, the Multnomah County health officer, said at a press conference on the county’s reopening plans that many of the 41 infections are connected to the mysterious workplace outbreak.

Robb Cowie, a spokesman for the Oregon Health Authority, confirmed total cases are in the dozens but otherwise said officials would not release the name of the business or other information Wednesday because the outbreak remains under a public health investigation.

State officials announced the outbreak earlier in the afternoon, writing in a news release that state and county health authorities were investigating an “increase in COVID-19 cases tied to an outbreak at specific locations of a business that operates in the Tri-county region and the Willamette Valley.” Cowie said the business is not Amazon, where at least two employees had previously fallen ill.

The Oregon State Public Health Laboratory has been testing affected workers linked to the mystery business, processing 262 tests on Tuesday.

Cowie said he did not know when state health officials first learned about the outbreak.