The coronavirus has claimed five lives in Linn County during the past week, the largest single-week total since the beginning of the pandemic when COVID-19 swept through the Oregon Veterans Home.

The youngest, a 69-year-old woman, died Thursday, Nov. 26, at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center.

On Nov. 27, Linn County counted two more: an 87-year-old woman and a 78-year-old woman. Before that, an 86-year-old man and an 81-year-old man, the latter died at the Portland Veteran’s Administration Medical Center. At least four of the five have confirmed underlying conditions, according to the...