Lincoln County and seven cities begin to split on tighter coronavirus limits on social gatherings, 24-hour holds on motel rooms

 

 

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com

Lincoln County and some of its cities are going separate ways on how or if to continue regulating residents and visitors amid the increasing number of local COVID-19 cases.

The result is a growing mish-mash of restrictions depending on where people live or visit.

County commissioners and councils or representatives of six of seven cities in Lincoln County met for the fourth time Friday in a large, online meeting to hear updates on the coronavirus pandemic and to try to tweak regulations governing social gatherings and lodging.

The only city not participating or speaking was Waldport, a majority of whose council members have not attended the last three meetings because of conflicts with the county’s meeting schedule or not having time to discuss the issues at their regularly scheduled meetings.

On Friday, commissioners and six cities discussed whether to cut back the number of people allowed at social gatherings – excluding churches or businesses – from 25 to 10. They also again brought up whether to eliminate a 24-hour “hold” on motel rooms or vacation rentals before workers could enter to clean them.

This all came after Wednesday’s directive by the county’s health officer asking that all residents and visitors to Lincoln County wear face coverings in public places until a similar order by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown takes effect June 24.

The county now has had 284 COVID-19 cases, after 31 were announced Thursday and 23 on Friday, the Oregon Health Authority said Saturday. The county’s coronavirus rate is the second-highest in the state. Three weeks ago there were 30 cases.

Before discussing the restrictions, commissioners and councils were told by county health administrator Rebecca Austen that:

•  Three people with COVID-19 remain hospitalized in Lincoln County;
•  The disease seems to be weakening in its severity but “the transmission rate continues to be very high,” Austen said. Most of the 54 new cases Thursday and Friday seem to come from about 360 new tests.
•  A small army of “contact tracers” has gotten through the initial caseload from the Pacific Seafood outbreak and is now working on the more than 330 people who took part in a mass drive-through test Tuesday at Newport Middle School. These are mostly friends, family and acquaintances of the seafood processing workers and results from that testing are leading to the large numbers of positive tests Thursday and Friday. Health department staff are working with workers and their families who speak Spanish or a Guatemalan indigenous dialect, getting them information and services, including food, to they will quarantine.

     Social gatherings

Before Lincoln County entered Phase 1 of the state’s three-phase reopening plan May 21, there was a limit by the state of no more than 10 people in any sort of gathering.

That limit rose to 25 when Phase 1 began – but before a massive COVID-19 outbreak among workers at Pacific Seafood in Newport and the spread of the virus further into the community.

On Friday, Lincoln City Mayor Dick Anderson told commissioners and other cities that his council had voted 5-2 earlier in the week to oppose the county’s request to lower the limit on social gatherings. Anderson said the Lincoln City Council felt that it was too confusing to the public for one county to eliminate one element of Phase 1 restrictions that are now statewide.

The Waldport City Council, which loosened its restrictions May 22, had one member listening in Friday, who said the council had not had time to discuss the issue. Waldport is staying at the 25-person limit.

Lincoln County commissioners approved reducing the limit on a 2-1 vote, with Chair Kaety Jacobson voting no over worries about impacting family gatherings over the Fourth of July. The commissioners’ approval covers just unincorporated areas of Lincoln County.

Yachats approved it 4-0; Newport 4-1 and Depoe Bay 5-1. Siletz had already approved it earlier in the week; Toldeo decided Wednesday to stay with the 25-person limit.

The lowered limits apply to social gatherings, not churches or businesses, and now extend for another 30 days.

County, Newport, Yachats and Depoe Bay keep room ‘hold’

The result was similar for considering changing a requirement in some jurisdictions to eliminate a regulation that says motels or vacation rentals must let a room or house sit vacant for 24 hours before workers enter to clean it. Many in the lodging industry are complaining that it takes out 30 percent of their room capacity, which is especially hurtful on busy weekends following  10 weeks of mandated closures.

When it was passed more than a month ago, the time period was recommended by the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association and others as a proper time period for letting the coronavirus die in an enclosed room.

Waldport, which has two hotels and a number of vacation rentals, dropped that restriction when lodging reopened May 22. Toledo and Siletz, which do not have any motels, also do not have that restriction.

Lincoln City had the 24-hour hold, but voted 5-2 to drop it this week.

Yachats and Newport city councilors said they did not want to drop the requirement, expressing concern for the safety of housekeepers and wanting to see if the spread in the Newport area slows down in the coming weeks.

County commissioners voted 2-1 to keep the restriction for another 30 days. Doug Hunt voted no, saying he favored the restriction but wanted to end it when Lincoln County enters the second phase of reopening, which could be sooner than 30 days.

“It’s mostly workers I’m worried about,” said Jacobson, adding that housekeepers who contacted her were worried about retaliation for speaking out when their employers wanted the restriction dropped.

She said the county can watch for the impact of the current outbreak on motel workers and urged the industry to do more to help their employees feel safe.