Schools To Continue Meal Delivery
Siuslaw Schools will continue on their regular plan of delivering food to students this summer. Buses and vans have been in operation to drop off meals to students during the coronavirus, but when school is over, Siuslaw School Superintendent, Andy Grzeskowiak says the need will not be. Generally the school has locations at the schools through the summer, but they are working through a grant and partnership with food share to continue the program.
“We’re going to keep with our standard locations at the high school and elementary school but we are going to continue with our 22 stop around the community.”
The 22 stops are serviced by 5 buses. The program furnishes two meals per day for students.
New Case, Two New Deaths
One more case of COVID-19 has been added to the Lane County numbers bringing the total to 56 confirmed cases. The latest is a person in their 50’s from the Eugene/Springfield are who is medicaly stable at home. At least 4,608 tests have been conducted in Lane County. The Oregon Health authority is reporting two new deaths from the coronavirus. One was an 88 year old man from Multnomah County and the other was a 95 year old man from Polk County. Both men suffered from preexisting health conditions.
State of Emergency for Health Insurance Companies
Yesterday the state issued an emergency order for health insurance companies. Companies are ordered to provide at least a 60 day grace period to pay any past due premiums while paying for any covered services during the first 30 days of the grace period and extends all deadlines for reporting claims and other communications. They are also required to provide communication options that meet the physical distancing standards set for in the Governor’s executive order. The order will ensure that Oregonians receiving coverage will have their claims paid and also ensures that health care providers will continue to receive payment for services rendered. The order was issued by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services.
RAIN Event Tomorrow
RAIN is hosting a virtual seminar tomorrow at noon. The event will be in conjunction with Lane County and Senator Arnie Roblan’s office and will feature Senator Roblan and moderated by Florence City Manager Erin Reynolds along with three other presenters. It will focus on what small businesses and startups need to know for reopening business once restrictions are lifted. Registration for the event will need to be made before midnight this evening. Information on the event is available at oregonrain.org
Lane County Ready to Reopen
Lane County is ready to reopen. That is the message that is being sent to Salem this week. Lane County Board of Commissioners is drafting the request that says the county has met all 7 metrics outlined by the state in order to reopen. One of the conditions of the reopening is having a system in place to verify that the metrics are being monitored. City manager Erin Reynolds says the county certifies that it does.
“They have a process in place to monitor all those 7 metrics to ensure that we’re still in a good place to be reopened.”
Governor Kate Brown says that beginning May 15th decisions will be made on each individual county’s request to reopen.
