Coronavirus cases have been steadily on the rise among Oregonians in their 20s since the beginning of June, and now total 21% of all cases in the state.
Despite the dramatic increase, COVID-19 presents less serious health risks for young people and the death rate among people under the age of 50 remains less than 1%, according to the Oregon Health Authority.
In Lane County, home to the University of Oregon and its 24,000 students, there are more coronavirus infections in the 21-30 age group than any other age range. And there’s a commonality among the new COVID-19 cases in college-aged members of that group: house parties.
Jason Davis, Lane County’s health and human services public information officer, said the county learned about the parties through case investigations and contact tracing.
“These kind of graduation or end-of-the-year parties is kind of what’s driving these cases,” Davis said. “We’ve learned that there was virtually no social distancing at the parties and no face coverings.”
Davis thinks the atmosphere around the virus changed as the state began to reopen, leading to this increased socialization.
“People are starting to get used to it,” Davis said. “It’s starting to become a part of everyday life, and with that comes a level of complacency.”
Statewide, there’s been a dramatic increase in sporadic COVID-19 cases, according to the Oregon Health Authority’s senior health adviser, Melissa Sutton. She said that means increased social mixing, rather than outbreaks in the workplace or household, is mainly driving the increase in cases.
According to public health data, only 3% of Oregonians in their 20s who have tested positive for COVID-19 have been hospitalized. In comparison, 41% of individuals over the age of 80 who have tested positive have been hospitalized.
But coronavirus cases in Oregon doubled from 5,000 to 10,000 cases in 25 days, and people in their 20s now make up more than one-fifth of all cases.
There’s also been an uptick in cases among younger people in Benton County, home to Oregon State University. OSU has an enrollment of almost 29,000 students. Over the holiday weekend, five out of six new cases were people in their 20s, said Charlie Fautin, Benton County’s health department director.
And even though no one in their 20s has died of COVID-19 in Oregon, Fautin said, young people should reconsider the thought that they won’t be seriously affected by the virus, and remember they might pass it along to older or more vulnerable populations.
He said both high rates of obesity and the prevalence of vaping among younger people can lead to higher risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19.
“The sense of invulnerability related to youth — there’s some holes in that theory,” Fautin said. “Even among that younger population, I really have some concerns about the increase of illness just because there are some other underlying risk factors.”
Anya Goff got sick in April. The 21-year-old’s illness started off with chest pain, then body chills, then a fever of more than 100 degrees for seven days straight.
After that, the coughing and breathing problems started.
“I was hot, cold, achy, my throat was hurting, my chest was hurting,” Goff said. “I was just so tired.”
She had coughing fits so severe that she could barely breathe. Those lasted for about a month, she said. And when she finally thought she was getting better, she returned to work only for her symptoms to return after two days.
Three months after catching COVID-19, she says there’s still moments where she breathes and feels crackling in her lungs.
Davis, the Lane County spokesman, said that in order to stop the spike among younger people, public health officials must work harder at communicating with the age group.
“When you’re dealing with a younger age population, they don’t necessarily communicate in the ways government and other entities are charged with designing communication,” Davis said. “They’re not necessarily looking at the Lane County health and human services Facebook. They’re not picking up a copy of the Register-Guard and reading it.”
And, he said, it’s going to take more than a poster or a news article to change things — it’ll require trust and conversations.
-- Celina Tebor
@CelinaTebor