6A | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2020 | SIUSLAW NEWS
REOPEN from page 1A
On April 13, the governors
of Washington, Oregon and
California jointly announced
a “Western States Pact” which
outlined a shared approached
to restarting public life and
business. The pact agreed on
the principles of prioritizing
residents’ health, guiding re-
opening decisions by science
rather than politics and work-
ing together effectively among
states.
Colorado and Nevada have
since joined the pact as well.
“I’m honored to have the
State of Nevada join the West-
ern States Pact and believe the
sharing of critical information
and best practices on how to
mitigate the spread, protect
the health and safety of our
residents, and reopen respon-
sibly will be invaluable as we
chart our paths forward,” said
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak in a
statement.
Goals of the pact now in-
clude:
• Protecting vulnerable pop-
ulations at risk for severe dis-
ease if infected.
• Ensuring an ability to care
for those who may become
sick with COVID-19 and other
conditions.
• Mitigating the non-direct
COVID-19 health impacts,
particularly on disadvantaged
communities.
• Protecting the general
public by ensuring any suc-
cessful lifting of interventions
includes the development of a
system for testing, tracking and
isolating.
The State of Oregon has
identified three broad crite-
ria for considering reopening,
namely: slowing the spread;
gathering enough personal
protection equipment (PPE)
and tracking and containing
cases.
On April 20, the state re-
leased a more detailed frame-
work for reopening Oregon
and, though parts of the frame-
work are subject to change, a
final version is scheduled to be
released the week of May 4.
Lane County Health and
Human Services Director Kar-
en Gaffney stated during an
April 28 county commissioner
meeting that Brown will like-
ly make decisions regarding
county requests to reopen fol-
lowing the release of this ver-
sion.
The
framework
close-
ly follows the White House’s
“Opening Up America Again
Guidelines,” which lists three
necessary steps to be in place
before regional restrictions
could be eased.
The steps involve meeting a
litany of standards, including
three components of “gating
criteria,” three components of
“core state preparedness” and
a three-phase reopening strat-
egy.
Gating criteria refers to the
public health front of fighting
COVID-19, calling for a de-
clining number of people with
symptoms, a declining number
of cases and adequate hospital
capacity.
Secondly, core state pre-
paredness refers to the degree
of communities’ readiness to
handle future outbreaks. The
step includes: robust testing
and contact tracing; healthcare
system capacity including PPE
and surge capacity; and plans
for health and safety pertaining
to high-risk workers and the
general public’s social habits.
Lastly, a general reopening
strategy has been divided into
three phases.
Phase One would begin at
the governor’s direction only
after all gating criteria and core
preparedness items were met.
The phase would continue to
encourage the public to prac-
tice good hygiene, to use face
coverings when around others
and to maximize physical dis-
tance when in public.
Oregon’s proposed Phase
One modifications, which are
still under review, are less re-
strictive than the federal pro-
posal in that certain childcare
services may reopen and work
groups would propose Phase
One strategies for bars, restau-
rants and personal services
(e.g. hair salons, tattoo parlors,
etc.).
The limit to 10 people in
social gatherings would stand
but be subject to review by
state and local public health
officials.
Following 14 days of passing
gating criteria again, Phases
Two and Three would then go
into effect. While both phases
are still in need of health au-
thority review, Phase Two pro-
poses to allow for an increase to
50 people for social gatherings,
the resumption of non-essen-
tial travel and the reopening of
schools and gyms under social
distancing guidelines.
Phase Three would fur-
ther increase gathering sizes,
ease restrictions on workplace
staffing, allow visitors back
into nursing homes and allow
restaurants and bars more seat-
ing.
Sector-specific discussions
about reopening in Oregon
also began on April 20, which
are expected to yield clearer
paths forward for restaurant,
retail, personal service, child-
care, transit and outdoor recre-
ation industries.
Furthermore, rural counties
with no cases and the ability to
meet testing and contact trac-
ing standards may begin Phase
One sooner than more urban
counties, according to Brown’s
chief of staff Nik Blosser.
administered as the number
of people with symptoms has
decreased. We also believe
that we have adequate testing
and hospital capacity, as well
as thorough contingency plan-
ning should cases begin to in-
crease at any point.”
On preparedness, the letter
addresses reopening standards
as well.
“As you know, Douglas
County implemented the first
drive-through testing oppor-
tunity in the state,” reads the
letter. “Douglas County has
also funded a team of epide-
miologists who have worked
diligently to trace contacts of
all cases of positive test results.
Coos, Curry, Jackson, and Jose-
phine Counties each still have
very few cases and capacity to
test anyone with symptoms in
the foreseeable future.”
The letter goes on to state
that “all five counties current-
ly have healthcare capacity to
manage the case load and be-
yond,” but warns that hospitals
County Readiness
may have limited ability to bear
The Douglas County com- their own financial burden.
missioners’ April 22 letter to
Meanwhile, Lane County’s
Brown makes the case that cer- Senior Public Health Advisor
tain counties have already met Dr. Patrick Luedtke outlined
Phase One reopening stan- his own seven criteria in con-
dards.
sideration for reopening in a
“In Southwestern Oregon, press conference on April 13,
there have been very few cas- several of which echoed the
es, but where we have seen the state’s guidelines.
most cases, there certainly has
Those criteria included:
been a reduction in reported
• A decrease of infections or
cases since the peak,” states the deaths over two of the coro-
letter in reference to gating cri- navirus’s incubation periods,
teria. “We have seen a decline which would be 28 days. As
in the number of tests being Lane County cases have pla-
teaued to a case or two per day,
Luedtke stated on April 28 that
the county was on its way to
meeting this standard.
• Local testing capacity
which is able to scale back up
for a second wave. The county
is currently equipped to con-
duct about 500 tests per day,
with a goal of reaching around
1,000.
• Adequate contact tracing
resources, which Luedtke char-
acterized as “doing well.”
• Plans for the healthcare
community to scale back up in
case of a second wave.
• Sufficient supply of PPE to
hospitals, which officials have
identified as less of a concern
of late.
• A blueprint for easing re-
strictions on public life and
business.
• A statewide view which
aligns Lane with other coun-
ties’ ability to deal with the
virus.
“For me, those are the seven
main criteria that I would like
to see visioned and assessed
appropriately before we con-
sider relaxing these restric-
tions,” said Luedtke. “I suspect
that there are a few other cri-
teria or nuances of these cri-
teria from others in the public
health space.”
The county has stated that
an online resource which
tracks the progress of these cri-
teria in real-time will shortly
be available to the public. As of
press time, no date has been set
for the release of the county’s
online resource.
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T HE F OLLOWING B USINESSES ARE OPEN TO S ERVE Y OU.
They are open in a variety of ways… delivery,
pick-up, curbside, drive-thru, in-store shopping
with social distancing, appointments, and more.
To be included in this list for $ 49 a month, Call 541-997-3441.
Abby’s Legendary Pizza, 1374 Highway 101 • 541-997-2229 ............................................................................................................................Open daily 11 am – 9 pm.
Off ering delivery and curb-side takeout. ................................................................................................................ Online ordering is easy at https://abbys.com/order.
Coastal Home Services, 2530 Kingwood Street Suite D • 541-590-3691 ................................................................................. Open Monday – Friday 8 am – 4:30 pm.
Florence Janitorial Services , 8:00a.m.-5:00p.m. .......................................................................................................................................................................541-997-2385
Florence RV and Automotive Specialist, 4390 Highway 101 • 541-997-8287 ............................................................................. Open Monday – Friday 8 am – 5 pm
Taking call outs!
Hoberg’s Complete Auto Repair 345 Highway 101 • 541-997-2413 .................................................................................................................Monday-Friday 8am-5pm
J and J Automotive, 1885 42nd Street • 541-997-3260 ......................................................................Open 8 am – 5 pm Monday – Th ursday, Friday by appointments
Jerry’s Place Bar and Grill, 88274 Rhododendron Drive • 541-997-3815 .............................................................................................................Open Daily 11am-7pm
Call ahead and we will have it ready. Most orders are taking approximately 15 minutes. Growlers and 6 packs are also available.
Neil’s Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning, 8:00a.m.-5:00p.m. ........................................................................................................................................................541-997-3825
Novelli’s Crab & Seafood, Boat Slip A13, Bay Street and Nopal Street • 541-639-7689 ..........................................................................Open every day 11 am – 5 pm.
Curbside Service or Delivery
Rosa’s Mexican Restaurant, 2825 Hwy 101 • 541-997-1144 .................................................................Open Monday-Saturday 10:30am-8:00pm for take out orders.
Call us for available menu items and place your order, we will deliver to your car.
Sears, 685 Hwy 101 • 541-997-3273. For emergency call 541-991-7797 .........................................................................................Open Monday-Saturday, 11am-5pm
Shervin’s Tire and Automotive Repair, 4515 Hwy. 101 • 541-997-8052 ........................................................................................Open Monday – Friday, 8 am – 5 pm
We will pick up and deliver your car back to you!
Siuslaw Glass & Mirror, 1780 Kingwood • 541-997-8526 .......................................................................................................Open Monday – Friday , 8:30am-4:30pm.
TR Hunter Real Estate 1749 Hwy 101 • 541-997-1200 .........................................................................................Hours: 8:30am to 5:30pm Monday through Saturday.
We’re taking extra precautions to insure the safety of our clients and walk-ins. And if you choose, we have online resources in place that will allow you to
conduct your real estate transaction from the safety of your home.
West Coast Real Estate Services, 1870 Highway 126 • 541-997-7653, www.jimhoberg.com ................................................................Open 8:30 am – 5:30 pm daily.
During these uncertain times, we are accessible by phone, website, email and by appointment.
We are conducting business as safely as possible for our clients as well as our staff .
Word of Mouth Home Décor ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 541-991-3457
Curbside pick up, shipping and free in-town delivery. Special care packages can be viewed on our Instagram; choose from the packages or contact us to help
with products from our store inventory. We are available daily 11-3pm. Call, text or direct message us on facebook or instagram.