New Cases Not Florence Related
The Oregon health Authority’s new number add another 299 cases of the coronavirus to the state’s total bringing that number to 33,291. They are also reporting 8 new deaths associated with COVID-19 bringing the total number of deaths in the state to 555. All but one has been confirmed with underlying health conditions. Lane County added another 32 cases but no new cases for the 97439 zip code. However the Peace Harbor Medical director Dr. heather McArthur said there were 2 cases that tested positive last week, but they were not residents of Florence.
“Those positive cases that we had here tested ended up being positives from the Eugene/Springfield area.”
Dr. McArthur said they were from the groups of people that evacuated from the smoke of the fires in the valley. she says when they did the contact tracing the most recent upticks in cases can be attributed to younger people in contact with other young people. Dr. Willie Foster, head of the Emergency Department at Peace Harbor says there is one way to help stay the spread of this virus.
“Masks are the easiest, simplest, and best thing we can do to decrease the spread of this.”
Lane county has 1,293 cases to date and will continue to rise at least in the short term according to Lane County Public Health officials.
Is Phase One Return Possible?
High rates of infectious covid-19 cases along with increased daily numbers of positive coronavirus tests could spell trouble for Lane County. Lane County Public Health’s public information officer Jason Davis says the county is going in the wrong direction with recent cases spiking after weeks of seeing the virus ramp down. He says the county health officials are doing all they can to track and trace the virus and are currently also looking at over 500 people that have had some contact with current positive cases. Davis says if numbers do not take a swing in the other direction the county could find itself under more restrictions.
“If things continue on the rate that they currently are that we will potentially have to move back to phase one.”
Davis did not say how quickly the change would have to happen to avoid a move backwards only that a reversal needs to happen. Lane County in the past week has seen over 200 new cases and has been in the top three counties as far as positive cases go.
Air Quality
The change in winds has pushed widespread haze into the area which is expected to continue through most of the day. Air quality degraded overnight and the LRAPA air quality monitors are listing Florence as a 97 which means people that have sensitivities and trouble breathing may have a more difficult time today. The same can be said for Mapleton residents that have an even higher AQI at 144. The Lane Regional Air Protection Agency says the general public will not likely be affected by the change and if it lifts within 24 hours residents with breathing issues should only be slightly impacted. The heightened AQI is a result of the different fires across the state. The Oregon Department of Forestry is reporting that the closest fire to us, the Holiday Farm Fire is now 60% contained and while the valley is expected to be hot and dry today, winds will be minimal and not cause problems for firefighters.
Gas Prices Steady
New numbers are out for prices at the pumps and Florence is holding steady at $2.39 a gallon. According to AAA Oregon the demand for gas increased slightly this past week but it is still relatively low according to Marie Dodds with AAA Oregon. Statewide the average price slipped a penny to $2.63 a gallon. The low demand coupled with limited travel due to the coronavirus and low stock prices are helping to keep the price in check. According to Dodds this trend is likely to continue for some time.
