By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
Despite increasing pressure from the lodging industry and other businesses, Lincoln County commissioners Friday said they will wait until at least Wednesday to seek entry into the second stage of Oregon’s reopening plan.
Citing a tripling of COVID-19 cases in the past week and an inability to fully trace contacts from an outbreak that has closed a Newport seafood plant, commissioners said they wanted to wait until next week to see more data.
“I just can’t recommend or feel good about going into Phase 2 right now,” Commission Chair Kaety Jacobson said at the end of a special meeting late Friday afternoon.
Commissioners plan to discuss it again at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
Twenty-nine of Oregon’s 36 counties have been approved to go into Phase 2 of the state’s three-stage reopening plan that has shut down or restricted businesses since mid-March.
But Lincoln County – along with Marion, Polk, Hood River, Clackamas and Washington counties – did not apply.
Lincoln County did not apply because officials felt it could not meet two of four new Phase 2 guidelines for rates of COVID-19 cases or tracing. It learned late this week that the state wasn’t necessarily counting the guidelines individually, but as a whole.
But a tripling of cases from 10 to 30 over the past eight days rattled commissioners. They were also told Friday that county Public Health nurses trying to trace COVID-19 cases were overwhelmed by the surge, are reallocating staff, calling in volunteers, and requesting help from the Oregon Health Authority.
“We’re sinking under water trying to keep up with the cases with this new outbreak,” said Public Health Director Rebecca Austen.
Nine of the county’s 30 cases stem from an outbreak this week among the 375 workers at Pacific Seafood’s shrimp processing plant on the Newport bayfront. The company closed the plant for cleaning Friday and Saturday and has instituted widespread health protocols.
The company having all workers tested this weekend. As a result, Austen said her agency expects a flood of positive tests next week.
Food processors in Oregon and across the country are one of the leading hotspots for COVID-19 cases. In the Northwest, the issue is exacerbated because workers move from region to region, live in tight quarters or groups, and often are not English speakers.
Gov. Kate Brown’s Phase 2 guidelines allow a limited return to office work and an easing of travel restrictions. In addition, gatherings can increase to 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors, but with churches and other organizations allowed as many as 250 people based on the occupancy limits of their buildings, the ability to socially distance attendees, and sanitization protocols.
Bowling alleys, pools and arcades can reopen with physical distancing. Non-contact youth sports can begin with restrictions on sharing equipment.
Restrictions will ease on bars and restaurants, allowing them to stay open until midnight and increase their table space with outdoor seating.
Benton, Lane and Linn counties were among the 14 approved to move to Phase 2 on Friday; Clatsop among the 11 for Saturday and Tillamook on Monday. Counties can pick their reopening date.
County would likely be approved
County Counsel Wayne Belmont told commissioners Friday that he’s confident Lincoln County could have received state approval earlier this week to go to Phase 2. But the Pacific Seafood outbreak and another connected to a family Memorial Day weekend gathering has changed the situation “pretty dramatically,” he said.
The county is under heavy pressure by motel owners to reopen and to relax a county regulation requiring that rooms sit vacant for 24 hours between guests. As commissioners met online Friday, Jason Brandt, president of the Oregon Lodging Association, was in an adjacent “chat room” constantly presenting arguments why commissioners should vote to go to Phase 2.
Commissioner Doug Hunt, who has been the most cautious about the county’s COVID-19 reopening, was even more forceful Friday. He said Lincoln County had 12 cases in the 69 days since the first case was discovered March 24. It the last five days there were 18.
“That to me is very frightening … and I think next week we’ll learn there’s even more reason to be concerned,” Hunt said.
While he acknowledged that businesses are hurting, massive federal loan programs have helped many and state and federal unemployment benefits are so generous that some businesses are struggling to get employees to return.
“Now is the time to focus on public health,” he said.
Along with the Pacific Seafood outbreak, county health officials expect to see even more COVID-19 cases two weeks after Memorial Day, then another spike in two weeks following this week’s graduation parties, then more after July 4.
What the state is requiring
Thirty-one Oregon counties began the 21-day Phase 1 reopening process May 15. That allowed restaurants to resume dine-in service with restrictions, and personal services such as barbers. Retail openings were not restricted under the county-by-county plans, but allowed to reopen statewide.
To enter Phase 1, counties needed to have a declining level of COVID-19-like illnesses, declining hospital admissions for the disease, an adequate contact tracing system, sufficient personal protection equipment, adequate isolation facilities, a minimum testing regimen, and sufficient hospital capacity to accommodate a 20 percent surge in hospitalizations.
That’s still the case for phase 2, but counties also need to demonstrate that:
- They can trace 95 percent of new cases within 24 hours;
- They can trace a minimum of 70 percent of cases to an existing case over the previous seven and 14 days;
- There is no significant increase in the rate of positive cases out of total tests;
- And, that there is not a 5 percent or greater increase in new cases over the previous week.
For Lincoln County and many others, the biggest hurdle for advancing to Phase 2 is their inability to contain “community spread,” which is when a positive COVID-19 case cannot be traced to another confirmed case.
To advance to Phase 2, the county has to identify the source of one infection to a previous infection at least 70 percent of the time.
The increase of new cases this week and expected increases the next two weeks could also mean the county does not meet the third criteria.
State epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger said Wednesday that Phase 2 will last through the summer and into the fall. Sidelinger said the state would continue to evaluate additional activities, but would not move beyond Phase 2 until there are preventive measures and an effective vaccine.
Thank you Quinton for this newsletter regarding what’s happening on the Central Oregon coast. Although I no longer live there I enjoy keeping up with the news through Yachatnews.com. Scott
Motel owners care more about making money rather than the health and well being of our community and their employees. The recent outbreaks of C-19 infections are proof that the risk of infection is real. Community spread is happening and too many people are not being careful, as they pretend it’s business as usual. The county health department and OHA won’t or can’t advise our community where infected people have been. Our testing rate for our county is not much beyond 1%. The county clearly does not meet the requirements for reopening.
Some people must go back to work. Not everyone is getting the “government” help. What the heck are those people with children supposed to do without income? Clearly stepping on our rights as Americans. Some have to take chances in order to keep living. The people who are scared must be OK without working or get paid better being unemployed. Not everyone fight that criteria. If your immune deficient then stay home and order groceries to your door.
I agree, people need to go back to work. However, to state that immune compromised people just “stay at home” is an ignorant statement. I would rather see enforcement of masks in all public places, and hand washing/disinfecting stations set up for public use. These 2 simple steps can stop 98% of spread. It is the unmasked, non-caring, “don’t tell me what to do” individuals who are the reason this virus is not already gone. They are the ones who are keeping the county from reopening. The pictures tell the story.