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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2020)
8A | WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020 | SIUSLAW NEWS COUNTY from page 1A Lane County’s application stated that during the past weeks, it has been carefully planning and building capacity to limit the spread of COVID as the community resumes more normal levels of activity. With low infection rates, sufficient testing capacity, the ability to expand contact tracing and an adequate supply of personal equipment, the county said it believes it is ready to begin re- opening. Phase 1 of reopening will last for 21 days and will include ex- pectations for residents to prac- tice good hygiene and staying home when sick. “Employers would develop appropriate policies for social distancing, protective equip- ment, temperature checks, san- itation and monitoring employ- ees for symptoms,” the county wrote. Vulnerable populations will be asked to stay home, telework will continue where possible, and non-essential travel will be discouraged. After that initial phase, if the county can show it has kept the spread of COVID-19 down, non-essential travel could re- sume while schools and gyms could be reopened — all with social distancing guidelines in place. After at least 21 addition- al days, worksites could have unrestricted staffing, visitors to nursing homes would be al- lowed and restaurants and bars could have more seating. “Each incubation period lasts 14 days, so the phased plan re- quiring communities to wait 21 days at each phase would take into account any changes over an incubation period — plus a week — to assess the current status prior to moving to the next phase,” the county wrote. “In Lane County, we have not had significant growth of cases during the pandemic…” However, because testing was very limited during the be- ginning of the pandemic, only those who had severe, specific symptoms (fever, shortness of breath and cough) and need- ed hospitalization were tested. Therefore, the actual data re- garding prevalence of COVID in Lane County is incomplete and not entirely known. To get around this, the coun- ty is using the metric of emer- gency department visits and hospital admissions. Regarding emergency de- partment visits for COVID-like illnesses, counties must be less than “the historic average for flu at the same time of year,” per state regulations. According to data from the county, emergency department visits have been in the “normal” range since April 10. As for a decline in hospi- tal admissions, only 15 Lane County residents with con- firmed COVID cases have been hospitalized since March 1. “The maximum number of Lane County residents hospi- talized at one time was eight people on April 11 and 12,” the county reported. “There have been no confirmed hospitalized cases since April 24.” At the time of the county’s submission, the county had 16 active cases of COVID, and zero hospitalizations. “In order to quickly detect any changes in the growth rate or localized outbreaks, the community needs access to widespread testing, particularly in the event that cases are in- creasing on the disease curve,” the county wrote. Counties are required to administer a weekly testing at a rate of 30 people per 10,000. Lane County estimates that would mean 1,071 tests per week — or 153 tests per day. According to the application, “Based on the daily average number of tests for the week ending May 3, Lane County is currently conducting about 185 tests per day and just under 1,300 per week.” PeaceHealth and McKen- zie-Willamette hospitals have capacity to administer up to 400 tests per day and each hospital has committed to processing up to 50 tests per day for Lane County Public Health (LCPH) as part of outbreak investiga- tions, sentinel surveillance and other urgent needs.” That combined capacity could mean up to 3,500 resi- dents could be tested weekly, if needed. The county must also pro- vide testing sites that are ac- cessible to underserved com- munities. Lane County stated it had multiple sites where testing can be done with a doctor’s or- der. According to Lane County, McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center, in cooperation with the University of Oregon, is operat- ing a testing site at the Spring- field hospital where anyone with a doctor’s order can get a test. Most primary care provid- ers can take a sample and have contracts with labs and can per- form the test. Nova Health urgent care, with locations in Eugene, Springfield and Cottage Grove can perform the tests and have them analyzed at McKen- zie-Willamette’s lab. Both McKenzie-Willamette and PeaceHealth hospitals are testing all admitted patients. “Lane County Public Health is currently conducting sur- veillance testing for staff and clients at homeless respite sites and homeless shelters,” the county wrote. “During May, this will expand to testing staff and residents at long-term care facilities and surveillance test- ing in the Latinx community in cooperation with trusted part- ner organizations.” While the county will be able to increase daily testing beyond its current number, it states that the minimal number of testing each day should average 500, representing approximately 1 percent of the population being tested each week. “Optimal levels would be closer to 1,000 tests per day administered to residents,” the county wrote. “As testing re- sources become more available, the state is relaxing the guide- lines for who is eligible for testing — when the testing re- sources were scarce, access was limited to only those who were most ill or had other specific risk factors.” Overall, testing in Oregon still falls short. Lane County admitted that, while its testing has increased, it is “still lag- ging.” While the county can reach minimum testing to relax re- strictions, “ultimately the com- munity also needs expanded sentinel and surveillance test- ing,” the county wrote. Contact tracing involves identifying and reaching out to the contacts of someone who Th is year is going to be diff erent, but we can still keep the tradition of celebrating with our FROM BabyTO Graduate 8TH GRADE • HIGH SCHOOL • COLLEGE Now is the time to reserve your graduates a spot in this special section just for them. tests positive for an infectious disease. Contacts are then test- ed and, for those who test posi- tive, the process is then repeat- ed for their contacts, and so on, until the chain of transmission is interrupted. Until recently, only those with COVID that needed to be hospitalized met the strict test- ing criteria, so contract tracing has been minimal. “As testing becomes more widely available, Public Health will implement more extensive contact tracing, which is ex- pected to include isolation and quarantine of known and sus- pected cases,” the county wrote. “In some cases, people who are isolated or quarantined at home will need support and resourc- es, such as groceries, laundry and prescription medicines.” Those who are unhoused or unable to return to their homes will also need additional ac- commodation. “It is not yet clear how wide- spread infection is in Lane County. Therefore, it is diffi- cult to estimate the resources that will be needed locally,” the county wrote. To reopen, the state requires 15 contract tracers per 100,000 people. “To meet this requirement, Lane County would need 56 contract tracers, even though we currently only have 13 active cases,” the county wrote. “Lane County Public Health’s contract tracers work in teams of six, su- pervised by a nurse or disease investigation specialist. Based on past experience, eight FTE are needed to do adequate con- tact tracing for up to 10 active COVID-19 cases.” The county currently has a pool of staff and volunteers to bring the capacity up to 20 FTE traces, enabling research of up to 50 active cases. But with part- nerships between Lane County Sheriff ’s Search and Rescue, the University of Oregon and the Oregon Health Authority, the county will have a pool of 200 staff and volunteers who can “be mobilized quickly to work under a nurse or disease inves- tigation specialist to conduct contact tracing if a surge in dis- ease requires expansion to 56 tracers,” the county said. The county said it will also ensure that there will be at least one bilingual (Spanish/En- glish) contract tracer and cast investigator per team. Existing contacts with tribal communi- ties will also provide tracing for tribal populations that speak Mam, Q’anjab’al, Q’eqchi and Mixtec. “Lane County currently in- vestigates 95 percent of all new cases within 24 hours and ex- pects this to continue,” the ap- plication stated. The application referenced the Roadmap for Reopening from the American Enterprise Institute, which states that one of the triggers for reinstituting stay-at-home orders is a dou- bling of cases every 3-5 days. “Because the virus is so con- tagious, it’s critical that the situ- ation is closely monitored, and that the healthcare system is able to quickly respond in the event that increased disease is detected,” Lane County said. Hospitals will need to have capacity for severe cases, and health care providers need to have sufficient PPE (person- al protective equipment). The community also needs to be prepared to activate stay-at- home strategies if needed to combat a significant outbreak. Currently, hospitals have the ability to increase beds by 20 percent in case of a rise in cases. “Lane County currently has sufficient facilities to isolate 15 individuals … and will have facilities in place for at least 55 individuals by May 15,” the county wrote. In Cottage Grove, one hotel has agreed to provide up to five rooms, while three hotels have volunteered their rooms in Florence. “Sponsors have provided 10 tiny homes to Lane County for use by homeless individu- als who need to be isolated or quarantined,” the county wrote. Recently, the county has also purchased a property with 40 rooms that can be used for iso- lation. The facility is expected to be ready to open on May 15. In addition, Lane County manages the local clearing- house that is used to support healthcare providers in the event of a surge. There are currently 216,350 procedure masks, 48,452 N-95 respirators, 12,576 gowns, 265,244 gloves and 5,949 face masks. “We are committed to the health and safety of our res- idents and all Oregonians; therefore we have put together a blueprint that will guide us in monitoring the spread of COVID-19 and outlines our plan to adhere to state guid- ance on Phase 1,” the county wrote. “Should data and con- ditions indicate a need, we are prepared to re-impose physi- cal distancing measures either county-wide or in affected ar- eas.” Our Sales & Service Departments are now open by appointment. Thank you for your understanding as we slowly start to provide services. We will keep you updated as we progress through opening the rest of the departments. For the safety of our community we are following measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. (541) 997-3475 • 2150 Hwy. 101, Florence www.johnstonmotorcompany.com THANK YOU FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS! We continue to be humbled and grateful for your material support and the encouraging notes you left along with your gifts. This is a defi ning moment for all of us. And we realize many in our community are hurting. For some, a subscription or a donation is not an option. We understand and we will continue working to provide you with critical information for free as long as we can. But if you’re able, please consider supporting our work in one of these ways. Our ability to continue serving you depends on it. – Jenna Bartlett, Publisher and Ned Hickson, Editor Some of the feedback we have received: “Our Siuslaw News is the lifeline to our community. We need to support them in every way we can.” Susan W. Grad’s Name “We love our small-town newspaper. Ned and the gang do such a great job of keeping us informed. We don’t want to lose you!” Kirk and Donna M. School: Birth Date: Parents: Grandparents: “Thank you for informing us and helping us to stay connected to our community.” Joan S. “Thank you for keeping our great community well-informed and for helping us weather the storm together.” Lynn U. “Thanks for all you do in supporting the Mapleton Community!!” Carl and Kathy W. Deadline is Friday, May 29th Drop off in the Siuslaw News Door Slot or mail, with the coupon below, payment, your graduate’s favorite baby picture along with a current picture to be published side by side on June 3rd.† Enclose Check for $35.00 and mail to “Baby to Graduate Review” Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439 Or stop by our offi ce at 148 Maple St. (in Old Town Florence) HELP US FUND LOCAL COVID-19 REPORTING IN OUR COMMUNITY. Grad’s Name: School: Birth Date: Parents: Grandparents: Your Name: Address: Phone: †Please attach a self-addressed envelope for picture return. DONATE NOW S Siuslaw News thesiuslawnews.com
