6A | SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 2021 | SIUSLAW NEWS
COVID from page 1A
Twenty patients are in the ICU,
with 10 needing ventilators.
According to OHA, the week
of Aug. 9 through Aug. 15 rep-
resents a 53% increase in cases
over the previous week — mark-
ing the fifth consecutive week of
increases.
In the state, there have been
31,394 confirmed and presump-
tive cases of COVID-19 among
people under 18 years old.
OHA is now tracking pediatric
COVID-19 case data through
its Tableau Public dashboard at
public.tableau.com/app/profile/
oregon.health.authority.covid.19.
Statewide, more than 845 Or-
egonians are hospitalized for
COVID-19, with 226 in ICU.
Hospitals are currently at 93%
capacity.
“This isn’t just about beds––
it’s about having enough trained
health care professionals to treat
patients,” Brown said Thursday.
“Our nurses, doctors, and health
care workers have been on the
frontlines of this pandemic––in
full PPE––for over 17 months.
They are being stretched to
their absolute limits providing
life-saving treatment for the pa-
tients in their care. This puts all
of us at risk. When our hospi-
tals are full, there may not be a
staffed bed for you if you have
an unexpected medical emer-
gency. When ambulances have
nowhere to go, people die pre-
ventable deaths.”
Lane County Public
Health released this
visualization created by
PeaceHealth showing
the vaccination status
of the medical group’s
COVID-19 patients from
April 1 through Aug. 18.
COUNCIL from page 1A
The council meeting began
with the reading of a Procla-
mation by Mayor Joe Henry
which recognized an import-
ant development in Ameri-
can history.
“Whereas, Sept. 17, 2021,
marks the 234th anniversary
of the drafting of the Consti-
tution of the United States of
America by the Constitution-
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al Convention; and where-
as, it is fitting and proper
to officially recognize this
magnificent document and
Its memorable anniversary;
and Whereas, it is fitting and
proper to officially recognize
the patriotic celebrations
which will commemorate the
occasion; and whereas, public
law 915 guarantees the issu-
ing of a proclamation each
year by the President of the
United States of America des-
ignating Sept. 17 through 23
as Constitution Week, there-
fore, I, Joe Henry, Mayor of
the City of Florence, do here-
by proclaim Sept. 17 through
23, 2021 to be ‘Constitution
Week’ in the City of Florence
and ask our citizens to reaf-
firm the ideals the Framers of
the Constitution had in 1787.”
Following this, the pub-
lic comments section of the
meeting again included com-
ments by activist Mike Allen,
which updated the council
on the Lane County actions
related to the development
of a countywide plan to mit-
igate future climate related
impacts.
As the bulk of the meet-
ing was related to property
annexations, Florence Public
Works Director Mike Mill-
er was on hand to provide
insight on issues related to
sewage and water. Through-
out the meeting, councilors
engaged with Miller to clarify
these types of issues.
The process for annexation
includes consideration from
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SUPPORT
the Florence Planning Com-
mission and extensive work
by Planning Department
staff. All of the evening’s re-
quests were approved by the
Planning Commission and
forwarded to the city council
for final approval.
Each annexation request
requires coordination and
communication
between
numerous entities. These
consulting entities often in-
clude Lane County Trans-
portation, Siuslaw Valley
Fire and Rescue, Heceta
Water District and the Flor-
ence Police Department.
Generally,
annexation
requests come in the form
of ordinances with an ac-
companying public hearing.
There may also be a request
for a related zoning mod-
ification connected to the
proposed annexation ordi-
nance.
That was the case for all
of Monday’s six annexation
related requests, which in-
cluded Ordinance No. 14
through Ordinance No. 19,
Series 2021. Ordinances 16
and 17 passed unanimously.
The Pear Blossom Annex-
ation review was presented
by Senior Planner Roxanne
Johnston while the Gott and
Mantzouranis requests were
reviewed by Planning De-
partment Director Wendy
FarleyCampbell.
There was also an exten-
sive review of the applicable
city codes which govern an-
nexation.
Staff entered into the re-
cord the responses from ef-
fected municipal and county
agencies which supported
the annexation as possible
and legal.
City Councilor Maggie
Wisniewski was the singu-
decompression units to free up
bed space, and removing barri-
ers to discharging patients who
no longer require hospital-level
care.
This week, OHA also released
information on the demograph-
ics of those currently contract-
ing the virus.
“OHA’s most recent update
on COVID-19 breakthrough
cases … found that 85.6% of
the 20,701 reported COVID-19
cases between Aug. 1 and Aug.
14 occurred in people who were
unvaccinated. There were 2,982
breakthrough cases, accounting
for 14.4% of all cases,” the report
stated.
To date, there have been
7,138 COVID-19 vaccine break-
through cases in Oregon. The
report shows that the rate of
COVID-19 in unvaccinated peo-
ple is currently approximately six
times higher than in vaccinated
people.
Learn more about break-
through cases in Oregon at
www.oregon.gov/oha/covid19/
D o c u m e nt s / D at a R e p or t s /
Breakthrough-Case-Re-
port-08-19-2021.pdf. People can
watch the governor’s Aug. 19
press conference at www.you-
tube.com/watch?v=AxfQIRoP-
jyw.
To
learn
more
about
COVID-19, visit healthoregon.
org/coronavirus and covidvacc
ine.oregon.gov, as well as lane
county.org/coronavirus and lane
county.org/vaxclinics.
lar holdout on approval of
the evening’s zoning change
requests, as she expressed
concern with changing the
density of these locations
from low to medium.
Wisniewski explained the
reasoning behind her “yes”
vote on the first annexation
request, which did not in-
clude a related ordinance
for a zoning change, and her
vote against the two later re-
quests.
After the discussions and
votes on annexation, City
Manager Erin Reynolds
spoke about the upcoming
celebration scheduled for
the 25th anniversary of the
Florence Events Center.
Reynolds informed the
council that the scheduled
recognition will be held as
planned.
“The city is proceeding
with all of our plans for the
Florence Events Center cel-
ebration. Our contingency
planning to this point has
been active and everything
is planned to be outdoors,
predominantly at the Flor-
ence Events Center,” Reyn-
olds said. “We will continue
evaluating the situation and
making adjustments as nec-
essary, but at this point we
are hopeful that we will see
everyone there.”
For more information, visit
ci.florence.or.us.
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The governor announced two
new vaccination measures to ad-
dress the hospital crisis, as well as
the education system as schools
prepare to reopen.
Oregon’s vaccination require-
ment for health care workers will
no longer have a testing alterna-
tive. Health care workers will be
required to be fully vaccinated
by Oct. 18 or six weeks after full
FDA approval, whichever is later.
In addition, all teachers, ed-
ucators, support staff and vol-
unteers in K-12 schools will be
required to be fully vaccinated
by Oct. 18 or six weeks after full
FDA approval, whichever is later.
“I know we had all hoped that,
by now, we could put the chal-
lenges of 2020 behind us. But
after the last year and a half, I
also know what we are capable
of when we all work together.
Last year, we stood together for
our nurses, doctors, and health
care workers. We saved lives by
following science and data. I’m
asking you to do it again for our
health care heroes, vulnerable
community members and Ore-
gon’s kids,” Brown stated. “Our
best tools to keep our schools,
businesses and communities
open are wearing masks and get-
ting vaccinated.”
The governor outlined steps
Oregon is taking to support
hospitals during the ongoing
surge in cases and hospitaliza-
tions, including deploying the
National Guard and nurse strike
teams, establishing temporary
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