Oregon Gov. Kate Brown Thursday announced that both Lincoln and Union counties have been removed from the state’s coronavirus watchlist.

“I want to applaud county officials and community members in Lincoln and Union Counties for their diligent work in bringing the spread of COVID-19 under control in these areas. Your leadership shows that we can reduce the spread of this disease if we work together,” Brown said in a statement.

Brown said Union County has voluntarily moved back into Phase 1 of the state’s reopening plan, and Lincoln County opted to remain in Phase 1.

Meanwhile, Hood River, Marion and Multnomah counties have been added to the watchlist. There are now 10 counties on the list. The other counties are Baker, Jefferson, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, and Wasco.

The list documents the counties with the broadest spread of COVID-19. It also allows the state to prioritize resources and increase monitoring.

Oregon announces 5 more deaths

COVID-19 has claimed five more lives in Oregon, bringing the pandemic’s death toll in the state to 316, health officials reported Thursday.

The Oregon Health Authority also reported 416 new confirmed and presumptive cases of the coronavirus Wednesday, bringing the total diagnosed with the virus to 18,131 since the start of the pandemic.

The most new cases were in Umatilla County, which reported 101 diagnoses, but health officials said that apparent surge reflects a delay in processing electronic laboratory reports — diagnoses had been lower in the county for several preceding days as a result.

Other counties with higher numbers of COVID-19 diagnoses were Washington County with 63, Multnomah County with 61 and Marion County with 38.

2 deaths reported in Clark County

Clark County, Washington, health officials Thursday reported two more deaths to the coronavirus, a man in his 60s and a man in his 80s, bringing total deaths in the county to 39.

Officials also reported 29 new positive test results, bringing to 1,756 the number of Clark County residents diagnosed with the virus.

The latest available data from the Washington Department of Health shows 54,985 cumulative cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and 1,555 deaths.

Oregon officials warn about drug touted by president

Oregon health officials said Wednesday that hydroxychloroquine should not be used as a treatment for COVID-19. The drug has been repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, and the Oregon Health Authority said it’s been receiving questions about its use — which the agency strongly discourages.

The agency quoted Dr. Joshua Sharfstein of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in its daily Oregon coronavirus update: “Early questions about whether hydroxychloroquine might be of help to patients with COVID-19 have been addressed by high-quality research, and the results do not support the medication’s use. In June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found ‘no benefit for decreasing the likelihood of death or speeding recovery’ and revoked the medication’s authorization for us in treating COVID-19.”

Fewer tests come back positive

About 5.1% of COVID-19 tests given in Oregon for the week of July 20-26 returned a positive diagnosis. That’s down from 6.6% of all tests a week earlier.

If that trend continues, it could bode well for Oregon’s eventual reopening. World Health Organization guidelines say that communities should have 5% or fewer of all tests return positive results for at least 14 days before reopening.

Growing number of Oregon, Washington schools will start the academic year remotely

Only one Oregon county meets Gov. Kate Brown’s full requirements for resuming full in-person education this fall — Wheeler County, population 1,300, which has yet to report a single confirmed coronavirus case. Another 12 counties meet benchmarks to allow some schools, such as those in rural areas and those serving the youngest students, to resume in-person education.

That’s left the leaders of a growing number of Oregon school districts opting to start the 2020-21 school year with remote education, at the same time as education leaders in Washington make similar decisions.

On Wednesday, Vancouver and Evergreen public school districts in Clark County both announced they would start the academic year with only online classes. Earlier in the week, Portland Public Schools, Salem-Keizer, Beaverton and a number of other Oregon school districts made similar announcements.

Aches, pains: Journalist shares her fight with COVID-19

Anna King, based in Washington’s Tri-Cities, reports for the Northwest News Network, a coalition of Pacific Northwest public media outlets. She’s used to observing news events, not doing her best to survive them.

That changed on June 3. She started the day that Wednesday morning feeling fine. Then, fever came on like a train — 104 degrees. She feared she had COVID-19.

That Saturday, she headed to the emergency room. It would be seven weeks before life began to seem normal again.

Read more: Journalist Anna King on her fight with COVID-19.