SALEM — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown reshuffled her list of counties struggling to contain coronavirus Thursday, Aug. 20, identifying Jackson as a new hot spot but clearing Marion and Wasco for apparently making enough progress.

Brown added Jackson County to her so-called “watch list” that serves as a precursor for more aggressive action, such as restoring business restrictions or stay-home guidance. She removed Wasco and Marion counties, which had been on the list since July 3 and July 30.

”I want to applaud county officials and community members in Marion and Wasco counties for their efforts in reducing the spread of COVID-19 in their communities,” Brown said in a statement. “This is yet another example of how we can combat this disease by working together.”

Eight counties are now on Brown’s watch list, which has had mixed results since being established in early July. The designation is supposed to ensure state resources for hard-hit counties. Some local officials say it’s worked well while others say they still don’t have what they need.

Brown places counties on the watch list when public health officials frequently cannot link confirmed or presumed coronavirus infections to an identified source. The state’s benchmark for such sporadic spread is 50 cases per 100,000 residents.

It’s not immediately clear how any of the counties have performed by that metric, including those that have been removed from the watch list. That’s because Brown’s office didn’t cite the statistics in her announcement and the Oregon Health Authority, the state’s public health division, doesn’t list those figures online among its many datasets.

An agency spokesman said he’d provide the information to The Oregonian/OregonLive as soon as possible.

Confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases have been climbing steadily this month in Jackson County, which includes Medford in southern Oregon. The Oregon Health Authority reported 352 cases as of Aug. 1. The tally Thursday stood at 636. More than half of all cases last week could not be traced to a source, according to state data.

Publicly available data shows that Marion County continues to struggle with coronavirus cases. Among residents tested for the virus, 10.9% were positive, according to data for last week. That’s the highest level for Marion County since at least June, and double the state’s rate last week.

Officials also could not trace one-third of Marion County’s cases last week to a known source, the highest rate since May, according to state data.

Being on Brown’s watch list ensures active monitoring for at least three weeks and the threat of new restrictions. Brown has already moved Morrow, Malhuer and Umatilla counties back to a first phase of reopening, with Umatilla originally sent to stay-home status.

The full list of watch list counties also includes Baker, Hood River, Jefferson and Multnomah.