Lab results pending for TRACE testing on COVID-19 cases in Eugene

Lab results are pending on a sweep of community testing over the weekend that will help understand just how prevalent coronavirus is in our area.

The findings will help the county public health better understand the severity of our community spread, as well as giving more information on asymptomatic cases in the community.

Testing is underway on hundreds of voluntarily collected nasal swab samples.

OSU and the University of Oregon went around Eugene with the goal of collecting those samples from 360 households in the Eugene area.

Details on the total tests taken and their results are expected within a week.

Co-director of OSU’s TRACE says the 2-day testing shows a better estimate of the proportion affected with the virus.

“Once we get results from samples, we use that info to generate percent of people in the larger Eugene community affected with Sars co-v-2,” said Jeff Bethel, the co-director of TRACE.

Which causes COVID-19…helpful for asymptomatic people who wouldn’t be tested otherwise.

“You get people not showing symptoms because they’re unknowingly part of the transmission cycle,” Bethel said.

Lane County Public Health spokesperson Jason Davis says right now, 15 percent of detected cases are asymptomatic. These results will help the county understand if their previous findings are reflected in the community.

In the TRACE project’s previous events, substantial proportions are not showing symptoms. Plus, the project helps figure out if results from current county testing and surveillance efforts match.

There isn’t another TRACE event scheduled, but Bethel says they’re actively discussing the next community.

The TRACE project has been around since April. They’ve done testing across the state in cities like Corvallis, Newport and HermistoN.