SALEM, Ore. (AP) — An 11-person COVID-19 outbreak at the Wilsonville office of the Oregon Employment Department will likely cause further delays in handling claims, officials said.

The outbreak “will cause real disruptions in our ability to get work at the pace we have been,” said David Gerstenfeld, acting director of the department, which has been dealing with backlog.

Officials at the state agency said many of the office's 600 employees will soon work from home.

Health authorities have not advised the office to close, Gerstenfeld said. But Gov. Kate Brown's COVID-19 safety orders require employers to allow work-from-home options when possible.

The department has made significant progress in enabling remote work and establishing safety protocols, Gerstenfeld said. He said he expects hundreds of Wilsonville employees to work from home in the future, but some can't because they lack adequate internet service.

As part of Brown's proposed budget and policy agenda announced Tuesday, she wants $146 million to replace the employment department’s computer systems and implement a new paid family and medical leave program.

The employment department has faced numerous challenges throughout the pandemic while paying out more than $6 billion in benefits to 600,0000 people, Gerstenfeld said.

Hundreds of thousands of people waited for weeks or months for payments while the department dealt with technical issues and an avalanche of claims.

Last week, the department began paying out about $300 million in federal benefits that had been delayed for eight months, the Statesman Journal reported.

The department has paid that money to 400,000 people, Gerstenfeld said. Around 52,000 Oregonians are still waiting for it.

The Oregon COVID-19 case count has surged since the beginning of November. The Oregon Health Authority reported 1,244 new confirmed cases Wednesday, bringing the state's total to 78,160. The death toll is 953.

From Nov. 23 to Nov. 29, the most recent weekly report published by the health authority, there were new weekly records in cases and hospitalizations. During that week, 9,100 new cases were reported, a 5% increase from the previous week.

Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 also increased from the previous week by 9%. Currently there are 549 coronavirus patients in Oregon hospitals. Oregon's COVID-19 testing positivity rate was 8.6%

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Sara Cline is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.