No Fireworks For Independence Day
Another annual tradition has fallen once again to the coronavirus pandemic. The Old Fashioned Fourth of July Celebration will not be moving forward according to Florence Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Bettina Hannigan. Hannigan says that time is needed to properly plan the celebration and with the current guidelines related to the pandemic makes it impossible to know what lies ahead for July. Hannigan did say that they are taking a wait and see approach for the possibility of moving the fireworks celebration to a date later on in the year. She says the event is planned for next year. Other events have had to be cancelled and she hopes that they will be able to save the annual Wine and Chowder trail for October. With the loss of Rhody days and the annual Wings and Wheels Event, the pandemic has put a large dent in the 147 million dollars pumped annually into the Florence economy.
Lane County Nearing Vaccination Goal
Lane County has made it over the 60 percentile mark for vaccinations. The county cleared the number by .2 percent in yesterday’s release by the Oregon Health Authority. The region needs another 4.8 percent of the population to have at least one vaccine in order to drop to the lowest level of risk. Governor Kate Brown has set the goal of June to have the entire state in the 70% at which time the state will drop the risk levels altogether. According to the latest figures released by the OHA 4 counties have reached the lowest risk level through vaccinations. Benton, Washington, Multnomah and Hood River have achieved greater than 65%. Lincoln and Dechutes appear to be the next two counties to reach that goal. Malheur county is the least vaccinated county in the state with 33.1 percent of the population having received at least one dose.
No New Florence Cases
There were no new cases of the coronavirus reported for the Florence area in the county’s recent report. 35 cases were reported by Lane County Public Health as the cases per 100k are also droping. Over the last 7 days the daily average has dropped to 33 cases. As of the end of last week there were approximately 6000 tests administered in the county with 5,797 tests coming back negative. Around the state there were 603 new cases reported. The OHA is also reporting a slight uptick in daily vaccinations. The past 2 days saw almost 38 thousand individuals get a dose. There were 5 new deaths reported for the state. the state’s death toll associated with COVID-19 is at 2,606.
Input Requested
If you are a hiker, or just enjoy the outdoor beauty of the Oregon Coast the Cascade Head Trails Coordination Team is looking for input from you on draft recommendations for managing trails. The website cascadeheadtrails.org has provided a questionnaire that respondents can fill out. The area covers a large span of the Oregon coast including the Siuslaw National Forest.
Food Share to Reopen
The Florence Food Share will once again be opening its doors for the public. The facility has been providing food to needy individuals in the area over the past year, but has been unable to provide indoor access. That will change on June 1st. Social Distancing requirements will be in place and mask wearing will still be required for those who have not yet been vaccinated. The Florence Food Share is located on Spruce Street across from Regency.
