Blood Needed in Lane County
Lane County Public Health is reporting that blood supplies are historically low for this time of year. Statistics show that the holiday season is one of the times in the year that blood supplies become limited, but since the beginning of the pandemic is has made the seasonal supply at even greater risk. Dr. Patrick Luedtke, senior health officer with Lane County says the low supply is a destabilizing factor for Community health. He says the blood supply is necessary for not only accidents, but for many life-saving surgeries and some types of cancer treatments. Lane County typically requires nearly 1000 donors per day according to the information released on Friday. Lane County Public Health is partnering with Bloodworks Northwest to try and reach 10,000 new donors before the end of the year. Information on where to donate can be found at bloodworksnw.org.
New Florence COVID Cases
There have now been 858 total cases of the coronavirus in the 97439 zip code. 8 more cases were added to the list on Friday of last week. Despite having one of the highest vaccination rates in the county, Florence continues to see a steady number of cases. The past 2 weeks have registered 47 new cases alone. Overall the area is still below the more populace areas in the county, but to date about 10 % of the population has been hit with the virus. There were almost 1,100 new cases reported on Friday for the state with Lane County contributing 77.
Minimal Flu Numbers
The seasonal flu continues to ride a low wave across the state. the numbers are trending just slightly higher than last year’s extremely low levels. The CDC is still recommending that individuals get their flu vaccines. 24 of the most recent cases have been split equally between the Portland Metro area and Southern Oregon. There were only 7 more cases for the rest of the state, none reported in western Lane County.
Rains and Flooding
Rain over the weekend caused the National Weather Service to issue a flood watch for the area. That watch is expected to expire this morning at 10 am. Rain is expected to continue throughout the week. High waters have been reported at several point on highway 126 including milepost 19 just east of Mapleton and milepost 39 just west of Noti. ODOT is reporting a 20 minute delay in areas that are affected.
Christmas Baskets
The Soroptomist of Florence had their annual Christmas basket giveaway on Saturday. It started off slow early on in the morning, but by the afternoon they had distributed about 375 baskets to families serving about 1500 individuals.
