Lincoln County and six cities agree to extend ban on recreational visits to motels, rentals, RV parks and campgrounds

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com

Unless the state of Oregon, Lincoln County and its seven cities come up with a plan for the gradual reopening of businesses, all motels, vacation rentals, campgrounds and RV parks will remain closed until May 31.

County commissioners and five city councils this week approved extending for an additional month the closure of lodging to recreational visitors because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite six weeks of economic hardship, commissioners and council members said they wanted to go slow on reopening, worried that relaxing the rules too early would result in a flood of people from the Willamette Valley.

The commission and councils met online all at once Monday, with only county chair Kaety Jacobson, county counsel Wayne Belmont and Newport City Manager Spencer Nebel gathering – six feet apart and with masks – in the Newport City Council chambers in a televised, two-hour meeting.

There was consensus that there needs to be much more COVID-19 testing and the county’s ability to handle a surge in COVID-19 cases. Many also urged developing a countywide reopening plan for businesses, services, and recreation linked with statewide plans and other coastal counties.

Drafts of initial reopening plans are beginning to circulate, said Sarah Means, the governor’s coordinator of regional issues for Lincoln, Benton, Lane and Linn counties. An eventual three-stage reopening would occur in two-week steps, Means said, advancing to the next stage only when a region meets specific targets.

Lincoln County’s restriction on visitors is more stringent than Gov. Kate Brown’s order, which only say Oregonians should stay home “to the maximum extent possible.”

The ban on short-term stays is similar to restrictions enacted last month – and extended last week — by Tillamook and Clatsop counties. The three counties are the only ones on the Oregon coast with bans on recreational stays of less than 30 days. There are exceptions for out-of-town workers, essential workers like medical personnel or the military, and the homeless.

The only other bans in Oregon cover unincorporated Deschutes County, and in the cities of Bandon and Hood River.

Lincoln County’s closure was originally approved March 23 and was to have expired Thursday. With one exception, it now goes through May 31.

The Waldport City Council was meeting separately Monday and agreed – without explanation — only to extend its closure to May 15.

Other city councils voting during an online meeting with county commissioners were Yachats, Newport, Toledo, Depoe Bay and Lincoln City. The Siletz City Council will meet Wednesday to consider extending the order.

Just 1 percent are being tested

Rebecca Austin, director of the Lincoln County Health Department, said the amount of COVID-19 testing by Samaritan Health Services is increasing daily from an average of 10-12 weeks ago to almost double that. As of Thursday there have been 510 tests in a county of 50,000 people – a 1 percent testing rate. There have been just five confirmed COVID-19 cases of Lincoln County residents; three of those have recovered.

The Oregon Health Authority reported Thursday that more than 56,000 Oregonians had tested for COVID-19, that 2,510 were positive but less than a fourth of those were hospitalized. There have been 103 deaths.

Oregon has the sixth lowest coronavirus infection rate in the country. In Oregon, Lincoln County is one of 14 counties with five or fewer positive cases.

But Austin said the number of tests should be doubled before a full reopening, and whether that happens depends on how many test kits Samaritan can buy. Samaritan is the only health provider testing in Lincoln County and until Wednesday had just one testing site — in Depoe Bay. Samaritan opened a second site Wednesday at its Waldport clinic.

“It’s going to be a balancing act,” she said of reopening the county. “More like a dial than a switch.”

The other challenges are helping make sure there are adequate supplies of protective gear when businesses open, ramping up the ability to trace COVID-19 contacts, and finding housing alternatives for infected people who can’t return home – or don’t have a home – to quarantine.

“There are still many challenges that face us,” she said.

County not ready for tourists

Jacobson said the county had received 71 emailed comments from the public and that 38 urged extending the ban. Of the 33 opposing the extension, Jacobson said, several suggested an immediate but slow reopening.

Several motel owners asked to reopen but under special conditions limiting guests. Jacobsen held out the hope there could be a phased opening for motels in late May but said the county would not be ready to do much by either May 8 or May 15.

“Because of the type of community we are and knowing we’ll get a large influx of tourists … we need to develop a phased approach” to reopening, Jacobson said.

Both commissioners Doug Hunt and Claire Hall said they understood the economic impact of the closures, but thought the public health emergency outweighed – for the time being — the impact on workers and businesses.

Yachats council members voted unanimously to extend the closures, agreeing that testing needs to be ramped up and plans developed on how to safely reopen businesses.

“We need time to get organized,” said Mary Ellen O’Shaughnessey.

Mayor John Moore said he initially thought extending the ban a week or two more would be OK, knowing the jurisdictions could meet again to extend it. But the information from the health department and the governor’s office and comments from other cities convinced him May 31 was a better date.

“I think the citizens of Yachats would be scared to death of the influx of visitors over Memorial Day,” he said.

Councilor Leslie Vaaler agreed.

“There’s a good chance we’re going to extend it further,” she said.