By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
Lincoln County officially loosens coronavirus restrictions on businesses, recreation and social gatherings Tuesday, but county officials are stressing that it doesn’t mean anything goes.
Lincoln County on Tuesday became the last non-Portland-area county in Oregon to move from Phase 1 to Phase 2 of the state’s reopening plan – months behind most similar, rural counties.
That means movie and live theaters can reopen, so can pools, community centers, churches, offices and government buildings, and other places where people gather. There are still restrictions on sizes of gatherings.
That’s because Lincoln County – and specifically Newport — has finally recovered from a massive workplace outbreak at Pacific Seafood in early June that spread into worker families, the community, restaurants, and long-term care facilities.
Where once there were dozens of COVID-19 cases a day, those numbers have shrunk in September to as few as six a week.
“I feel quite confident that moving to Phase 2 we’ll be in good shape,” county health director Rebecca Austen told county commissioners Monday. “It doesn’t mean we can all take our masks off and go to parties. I know we’re social people … but act cautiously.”
The state requires that counties meet or show improvement in meeting a variety of standards for moving from the more restrictive Phase 1 into the looser restrictions of Phase 2.
For June, July and August, Lincoln County did not meet those standards and at one time was one of a handful of counties on Gov. Kate Brown’s “watch list” because of problems controlling the spread of the coronavirus.
But the county’s rate of positive cases has dropped from 6.3 percent in August to a current level of 1.8 percent. The state’s goal is 5 percent.
“Our numbers are small and the numbers of positives are very low,” Austen said.
Across Oregon, there has been a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in some communities – another big outbreak at a Pacific Seafood plant in Clatsop County, huge numbers in rural Malheur County, and increases associated with students returning to the University of Oregon and Oregon State University.
Lincoln County has apparently dodged that latest bullet.
“We’re an outlier in a very good way right now,” said Commissioner Claire Hall.
But Lincoln County’s overall numbers are huge compared to similar coastal counties. Lincoln County has had 482 cases and 13 deaths since March; 11 of those deaths coming in long-term care facilities or rehabilitation centers. But most of the cases have been centered in Newport or Lincoln City; rural areas of the county are almost untouched.
Even with the latest food processing outbreak, Clatsop County has had just 212 cases and no deaths since March. Coos County has had 157 cases and no deaths; Tillamook County 53 and no deaths.
Austen said the community’s efforts to follow coronavirus guidelines have finally paid off. But she said county health officials will be watching “very carefully” to judge the impact of recent fire evacuations and the start of school – even though almost all classes are being conducted online.
The county’s numbers have dropped so dramatically that the Lincoln County School District may be able to resume some K-3 in-school instruction by mid-October – if numbers stay low.
“I feel like it’s been a long time coming, but I feel good where our numbers are at,” said commission Chair Kaety Jacobson.
