County Concerned with COVID-19 Numbers Locally
The Florence area has seen 18 new cases reported in just the last 2 days. It is an alarming number according to Lane County Public Health liaison Jason Davis, but one he believes is not necessarily sustainable. Davis says that he does believe that the case numbers here and across the county will start to decrease, but there is a caveat attached to that. He says it is likely that the county will see an increase in deaths and hospitalizations in the coming weeks.
“That’s what we kind of think probably will happen. Is that we will see out case numbers start to decrease and we will all collectively breathe a sigh of relief, however our hospitalizations will not decrease they may even go up.”
Davis says right now they are only interviewing case number for ages 18 and below and 50 and up, but he says there is a large portion of the population in between that are likely symptomatic and could potentially spread the coronavirus without even knowing it. Davis is still adamantly pushing for those that are unvaccinated to get vaccinated. He says it is still the quickest way to see an end to the virus.
Winter Music Festival Moving Forward
One event that has not been deterred by the threat of the coronavirus is the annual Winter Music Festival. Festival Chair Kirk Mlinek says it is difficult to know what the COVID-19 regulations are going to be when the festival returns on January 28th and 29th, but they are planning for a full festival with whatever they are. Mlinek says they will be announcing the lineup very shortly and they plan on introducing more workshops, music related vendors, food options and more space for individuals to jam together. The festival celebrates its 20th year. Information and early bird tickets can be purchased at wintermusicfestival dot org.
School Board Reschedules
The Siuslaw School Board officially announced their rescheduling of their special meeting to address concerns from parents. The board has decided to move the event to Hans Peterson Field to accommodate more people in a more distanced setting. The meeting will begin at 6:30 pm on Wednesday September 8th and masks will be required when distances of 6 feet cannot be accommodated. Community members can email questions or fill out a comment card at the event.
Latest COVID-19 Numbers
The Oregon Health Authority is reporting that cases of COVID-19 continue to rise week over week. There were 16,252 new cases last week an increase of 10% over the previous week. Hospitalizations were also up 601 from the previous week. There were also 119 deaths reported. Yesterday’s published numbers alone were 2,827 with 23 new deaths and hospitalizations increased to 1,178. Lane County’s numbers increased by 223. Vaccination numbers are continuing to rise with daily average rates increasing to 8,674.
