Oregon Tops 100 Deaths for Coronavirus
2,446 people have now tested positive for COVID-19 in Oregon. The latest numbers from the Oregon Health Authority continue to increase, although it is at a much slower rate than in previous weeks. There have also been two more deaths associated with the virus taking the total to 101. The two new cases are a man and a woman in their 70’s with underlying health conditions. Both were located in Multnomah County. Their deaths were actually recorded last week, but just added to the numbers yesterday. In Lane County there have been no new reported cases for a week now. 3,322 tests have been conducted and there are 50 known cases to date.
Lane County Closes in on Opening
Meetings are ongoing in the county with the Lane County Health Department and cities and municipalities. Lane County is gathering data on the coronavirus and working towards plans to slowly reopen. Counties have the option of asking for individual permission to reopen, even if the state has not yet fully recovered from the virus. Several counties have already submitted letters to the capital saying that they are ready. Florence City Manager Erin Reynolds says she believes that Lane County is close behind.
“I expect hearing in the next week or so Lane County sending their letter up to the Governor’s office indicating that we are ready to go as a county.”
This is good news for the city of Florence as it gives some indication that a date is near. Things will not immediately be back to normal. There will still be many restrictions in place regarding group gathering sizes, social distancing in public places like restaurants, and for businesses that cannot secure the space needed for distancing.
Oregon One of Eleven Above $2.00 a Gallon
The state of Oregon is one of only 13 states that is currently selling gasoline above $2.00 a gallon. Marie Dodds with AAA Oregon says most of the nation is averaging around $1.77 for a gallon of regular gas while Oregon’s price is over $2.40 a gallon. Florence’s average price for a gallon of regular gas is at $2.28 a gallon. Dodds says that over the next month Oregon could see another 10 cent drop in prices, but are not expected to go lower than that. While crude oil prices did dip into negative territory last week, they had made significant gains by week’s end. Demand for gas was up slightly last week to 5.3 million barrels a day up .2 million from the week prior. Stockpiles still remain at maximum levels. In addition, Oregonians are still able, for the time being, to pump their own gas due to the restrictions placed by the governors executive order.
Fish Die Off
There was a report of a fish die off at Cleawox Lake on Friday. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife had looked into the matter and ODFW representative John Spangler says there was likely a problem in the release of the fish into the lake. Spangler says oxygen levels were ok during the delivery of the fish and water quality has not changed. He says they expect to lose some fish in the transfer, but that this was the first time there has been an incident at Cleawox. ODFW is looking at ways to prevent future losses.
