SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2021 | 5A
members stepping in to sew the food distribution.
bridge the gap for the thou- was no Queen Rhododen-
handmade personal pro-
More and more locations sands of people left unem- dra and King of the Coast
On March 8, Brown de- tective equipment, such as shut down, including Siu- ployed or furloughed from from the Royal Courts, but
clared a state of emergen- masks and hospital gowns.
slaw Public Library and the pandemic. Rent and all seniors were recognized
cy over the virus. By then,
On March 14, a 70-year- Three Rivers Casino Resort, utility protections went into as the “Quarantine Court.”
there were 15 presumptive old Multnomah County and the Dunes City and place.
It was the first time since
and confirmed cases of man was the first person Florence city councils de-
LCPH continued to mon- World War II that the festi-
COVID-19 in Oregon, with to die from COVID-19 in clared states of emergency itor COVID-19 spread in val was canceled.
seven counties reporting at Oregon. Three
least one case. By March 11, days later, Lane
JUNE 2020
“The best thing to do is try and stay home as much as you can.
WHO declared the corona- County Public
On
June
virus to be a pandemic — a Health (LCPH)
This virus, for it to succeed, has to have close contact between 2, OHA con-
recognition that the virus was notified of
people. We are directly contributable to its success. If we take firms the first
had, or would soon, spread the first positive
close contact out of the equation, and essentially cut the gas C O V I D - 1 9
around the globe.
COVID-19 test
case in Flor-
lines for the disease, we make it so it can’t do its job. Stay home. ence’s 97439 zip
“This is not just a public in the county
Don’t be the person that contracts it.”
health crisis, it is a crisis that — a 69-year-
code. The first
will touch every sector — so old man in the
— Lane County Public Health PIO Jason Davis, July 2020 m a s s - t e s t i n g
every sector and every indi- Eugene/Spring-
event does not
vidual must be involved in field area. The
occur until the
the fight,” said WHO Direc- first death reported was a in their cities.
the community. However, end of June, when LCPH
tor General Tedros Adha- 60-year-old woman, who
Help was soon an- Siuslaw News was the first hosted three free COVID-19
nom Ghebreyesus.
passed away March 14. A nounced, however, as the to report that Lane Coun- testing options in the Siu-
Oregon’s governor be- COVID-19 test was admin- U.S. Senate voted unani- ty did not have a way to slaw region.
gan issuing executive or- istered after her death.
mously to approve the Coro- confirm the location of
Lane County began Phase
ders, limiting gatherings at
Locally, Lane County navirus Aid, Relief and Eco- COVID-19 cases in rural II of Kate Brown’s reopening
first and eventually closing Emergency
Management nomic Security (CARES) parts of the county. Instead, plan for Oregon on June 5.
schools, canceling events groups began to meet, in- Act, a $2.2 trillion fiscal it either reported cases as This phase included open-
and restricting access to cluding City of Florence, stimulus package, which the “in Eugene/Springfield” or ing museums, movie the-
parks. Governments, busi- PeaceHealth, Florence Po- House of Representatives “in a rural area outside of aters, bowling alleys and ar-
nesses and schools began lice Department, SVFR, passed.
Eugene/Springfield.” Soon cades, allowed recreational
holding virtual meetings WLAD and Siuslaw and
after, OHA began to offer sports, loosened restaurant
and many people began Mapleton school districts.
APRIL 2020
metrics for each zip code.
and bar curfew restrictions
to work from home. Med- The schools began to deliver
April began with appli-
and expanded outdoor gath-
ical centers prepared for food daily to students’ fam- cations for the Paycheck
MAY 2020
erings to 100 people.
the worst, with community ilies. Restaurants joined in Protection Program (PPP)
In the months since Feb-
However, on June 15,
loans authorized under the ruary, Oregon lost 360,000 Brown slowed the state’s re-
CARES Act. In the first jobs due to the pandemic, opening process. “In order
weekend, the staff at Oregon equaling 18 percent of all to ensure that the virus is
• Rem
Pacific Bank received hun- jobs in the state. Oregon not spreading too quickly, I
dreds of applications.
ranked 39th in the country am putting all county appli-
Brown officially closed for COVID-19 cases, and cations for further reopen-
in-person schools for the re- the deaths per capita was ing on hold. … It is time to
mainder of the school year. one of the lowest in the na- press pause for one week be-
“School, and learning, will tion at just two per 100,000, fore any further reopening,”
continue as best as we can compared to Washington’s she said.
using remote means,” she 11. By comparison, New
By mid-June, Lane Coun-
541-997-2197
said.
ty
reported 88 positive
York
had
121
deaths
per
CCB#164472
Brown also joined the 100,000.
COVID-19 test results, with
governors of Washington
The month of May saw three deaths.
and
California
on
April
13
Locally, Boys and Girls
the
beginning of a lift of re-
Prepare for unexpected
in
a
“Western
States
Pact,
”
Clubs
of Western Lane
strictions
in
Oregon.
Peace-
power outages with a
which
outlined
a
shared
County
was able to open its
Health
was
able
to
open
Generac home standby
approached to restarting for elective procedures and doors after being authorized
generator
public life and business. The Brown announced the lim- as an emergency childcare
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states.
strong Oregon,” including the fall.
Life in Western Lane new guidance on the phased
Siuslaw Outreach Ser-
County adapted to stay-at- reopening process. Coun- vices raised over $120,000
home measures, including ties had to have a decline in through grants to help
holding drive-by birthday COVID-19 cases and have toward rent and utilities
parades, teacher parades and hospital capacity. In Phase through its COVID-19 As-
virtual meetings. City Lights I, restaurants and bars could sistance Fund.
Cinemas began to offer film open for sit-down service;
streaming. Mapleton School personal care and services
JULY 2020
District launched “Be the businesses, including bar-
On July 9, OHA report-
Light,” which honored its bers and salons, could open; ed 389 new confirmed
Brian Jagoe
2020 seniors by lighting up and in-person gatherings and presumptive cases of
Principal Broker
the football stadium each of up to 25 people were al- COVID-19, bringing the
541 999-1314
Friday night until gradua- lowed.
state total to 11,188. It was
91 Windleaf Way – This is a great opportu-
tion.
Lane County submitted the highest single-day rise
nity to build your home close to the beach, in a
great community of very nice homes. The seller
People began to receive its proposal and entered in the case count state since
is willing to carry so bring us an offer and start
their economic impact pay- Phase 1 on May 15. This led the start of the pandemic.
planning your future in Florence. $63,000. #2797-
ment (also called stimulus to the reopening of Three In addition, the state’s death
18615048
checks) from the federal Rivers Casino Resort, as well toll reached 230.
1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200
government. This helped as Siuslaw Public Library ac-
By July 15, the Florence
cepting item returns. How- area had 12 confirmed cas-
ever, the 113th Rhododen- es. This prompted LCPH of-
dron Festival was not held. ficials to urge people to “stay
However, community mem- home” as much as possible.
bers hold a small virtual cel-
Midmonth, the City of
ebration and a special virtu- Florence announced a new
al “parade” coordinated by parking plan for Historic
the City of Florence. There Old Town, which expanded
MARCH from page 1A
Jack Mobley
Construction, Inc.
Thank you Florence for
always supporting us.
FREE
Buying or Selling? I can help.
Support and Encourage Youth Artists
Hours:
Monday-Saturday
10:30am – 9:00pm
We are doing take-out and
curbside service only!
Art Classes
2020 Scholarship Award
Celebrations
You can still enjoy your favorites
from our regular menu.
Give us a call to place your order.
From our family to your family,
thank you!
We appreciate your support and hope
you are all doing well.
Art Festivals
2825 Hwy 101, Florence • 541-997-1144
Let me Showcase your property.
Open Studio
New Listing
Gallery
Amy Johnson
Broker, CSA
541 999-7875
Poetry Open Mic
Poetry Slam
Our mission is to unify and support all the arts, enrich
cultural life and stimulate economic vitality in Florence.
Community
Support,
Giving Tree
89510 Hwy 101 #3 – Enjoy views of the woods
and the lake through your front window. Fully fur-
nished mobile only with covered porch and stor-
age shed. Space rent is $470/mo and includes
water, sewer and trash. Park approval required
for Buyer prior to closing. 55+ park. No land in-
cluded in sale. $27,000. #3183-21342613
1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200
outdoor seating allowances
for local restaurants.
At the end of the month,
several businesses briefly
closed as employees tested
positive for COVID-19. Af-
ter deep cleaning, they all
reopened.
OHA reported 17,088
confirmed
cases
of
COVID-19 by July 28, with
statewide deaths totaling
289. LCPH authorities con-
firmed a total of 458 cases in
Lane County, resulting in 3
deaths.
LCPH Public Information
Officer Jason Davis said he
was not surprised that Flor-
ence was experiencing an
uptick in COVID-related
closings.
“Absolutely, we at Lane
County Health feel and un-
derstand that Florence has
unique challenges as people
go to the coast after being
stuck at home for so long,”
he said. “The coast is more
and more of an option for
people looking to get away
for a few days. We have
discussed in our meetings
the number of cases being
tracked by zip code — and
we are well aware of what’s
going on out there.”
AUGUST 2020
COVID-19 stats as of
Aug. 1 were 474 cases in
Lane County. The state
reached 18,131 cases and
316 deaths.
Before August, school
districts were hoping to
reopen in a hybrid mod-
el. Brown announced new
metrics, which meant all
schools would remain in
CDL through at least Oc-
tober. And, while some
schools were able to hold
practices for certain sports,
no one could predict what
sports would look like un-
der COVID-19.
Oregon School Activities
Association (OSAA) deter-
mined that practices could
continue, but actual contests
would wait until January.
“Going forward, I hope
we can put things together
for kids to play the sports
that they love. Right now,
hope is something that we
can all use a little dose of,”
said Siuslaw Athletic Direc-
tor Chris Johnson.
Oregon RAIN (Regional
Accelerator and Innovation
Network) worked to help
businesses adapt to virtual
life. It launched a 10-week
sales and marketing acceler-
ator that was open to people
all over the state.
Wildfires broke out across
the West Coast, includ-
ing multiple fires in Ma-
pleton set by an arsonist.
COVID-19 caused some de-
lays in sending aid, though
people still raised money
and donated food, water
and supplies to the relief
mission.
SEPTEMBER 2020
Labor Day again brought
the crowds to the area, with
a packed Old Town making
it difficult to social distance.
This was mostly welcome for
area merchants and those in
the tourism industry, as well
as the Port of Siuslaw.
By the end of the month,
Oregon saw 457 new
COVID-19 reported cases
in one day, with 50 of those
in Lane County. LCPH re-
ported 1,164 cases and 18
deaths. The 97439 zip code
had 22 reported cases.
The steadily rising num-
ber of cases prompted Dr.
Jim McGovern, with Peace-
Health, to say, “More than
six months have passed
since the pandemic be-
gan and COVID-19 is very
much still with us. In fact,
it appears as though the
preparations made by hos-
pitals and other care pro-
viders at the beginning of
the outbreak will now need
to be utilized. We are trend-
ing up toward a significant
surge as we are now seeing
our highest number of pos-
itive COVID-19 cases to-
date.”
See SEPTEMBER page 6A