Commissioner Sees Light
Four more COVID-19 cases have been recorded for the 97439 zip code from yesterday’s report from Lane County Public Health. That is a total of 728 since the beginning of the pandemic. The pandemic with the onset of the Delta Variant did cause some difficulties for Lane County Public Health as it dealt with staffing issues during the peak of the pandemic this past summer. Lane County commissioners, who also act as the Public board of health for the county worked hard to stay on top of the situation according to Commissioner Jay Bozievich. As a result he says the effort is paying off now.
“We got pretty short-handed and the Delta Variant was a big peak but we managed to get on top of that pretty quickly and we have been seeing a downward trend for 9 weeks now for Lane County in case counts and hospitalizations.
Bozievich says Florence is one of the highest vaccinated communities in Lane County. He also said that LCPH has worked hard to make sure that individuals received their vaccinations even when they could not make a specific clinic.
“They actually arranged to have somebody come to her home to vaccinate her and her husband and a couple of their friends that could not get into that clinic.”
Bozievich says current projections have the county at herd immunity levels by the end of the year.
Pediatric Vaccine Clinics
With the approval of pediatric vaccines earlier in the week the stage was set for a roll out of the vaccine. Lane County will get its portion of the 180,000 doses planned for Oregon and begin offering clinics for children ages 5-11. Clinics begin today for the county but it will be two weeks before they have one here in Florence. On Saturday, November 20th Siuslaw Middle School will have a vaccination clinic that will include pediatric vaccinations. According to school superintendent Andy Grzeskowiak there are currently only appointments available. Walk-ins will not be allowed at this time, but that could be updated as the date approaches.
Police Provide Package Protection
As the holiday season approaches the instances of theft often occurs as people begin to order packages and have them delivered at their homes. this year the Florence Police Department is offering a Holiday Package Protection Program. If you are concerned that your packages are sitting on your porch while you are at work or away, you can have them delivered to the police station for safe keeping free of charge. Florence Police will store the packages from November 15th until January 16th. packages can then be picked up Monday through Friday from 9am until 1pm or you can schedule an alternate time by calling the non-emergency number. There is a weight limit of 25 pounds. Only packages shipped by Amazon, UPS and Fed-ex are eligible, items from the US postal service cannot be accepted. Complete instructions are available on the city’s website at ci.florence.or.us.
C.R.O.W. Sponsorships
CROW is still accepting sponsorships for its holiday window display and parking lot radio program. A $250 dollar sponsorship will help to provide props, photo backdrops, lighting components and more for the Holiday Parking Lot Radio Show. Sponsorship deadline is November 10th.
Breakthrough Cases (corrected)
The Oregon Health Authority released its information on COVID-19 breakthrough cases yesterday reporting that 24.6% of new cases are in individuals that have been vaccinated. Numbers are consistent across the state, but hospitalizations vary. Currently about 11 percent of COVID-19 patients in Lane County Hospitals are vaccinated.
