By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
The steep increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in Lincoln County are coming from the Lincoln City, Otis and Siletz areas and the outbreak at the county jail in Newport, county commissioners were told Monday.
The increase pushed the county into the state’s “high risk” category Friday for restrictions on businesses and social gatherings, just four weeks after being in the “low risk” category. That means, for example, restaurants, bars, theaters, indoor entertainment and similar businesses have had to cut their customers to 25 percent of capacity.
There are 18 cases connected to an outbreak among staff at Kyllo’s Seafood and Grill in Lincoln City, which includes 13 presumed cases from their close contacts, according to the weekly outbreak report Wednesday from the Oregon Health Authority. Another 14 cases were in the Lincoln County Jail, and 11 at Siletz Valley Charter School, according to the OHA.
The county had 63 cases through Sunday, April 11, and then recorded another 15 Monday and Tuesday.
There is no indication — yet — that COVID-19 varients are playing a part in the local increase, said interim health department director Florence Pourtal. The county sent six samples to the OHA’s lab to test for varients, Pourtal said, but the results may not be know for weeks.
But the six county hospital region that includes Lincoln, Benton, Linn, Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties has confirmed 121 of the 294 varients reported in all of Oregon. The vast majority of those are a variant coming from California.
On Tuesday, Oregon “paused” using the Johnson & Johnson one-shot COVID-19 vaccine even though none of six newly reported severe reactions to the vaccine occurred in the state, health officials said. The Centers for Disease Control urged states to temporarily stop using the vaccine given 6.8 million people after six women who received the vaccine became seriously ill and one died.
Around Oregon, vaccinators have given about 82,000 Johnson & Johnson shots, a tiny fraction of the 2.3 million vaccine doses administered since December. The Oregon Health Authority said about 212,000 doses are on hand in 225 locations around the state and can be kept in regular refrigeration units for later use when federal officials lift the advisory.
Susan Trachsel, spokeswoman for Lincoln County Public Health, said Tuesday the pause affected visits with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to 50 homebound residents scheduled to get their vaccinations.
The Walgreen’s pharmacy in Newport had scheduled vaccinations Tuesday using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine but cancelled those after the CDC issued its warning early Tuesday.
But there is little chance Lincoln County will get to the state’s “extreme” level and have to close many businesses again. That’s because Gov. Kate Brown changed metrics last week stopping any county’s move to “extreme” if the Oregon’s hospitalization and COVID-19 test positivity rates stay below a certain level – which they have been easily.
Pourtal said Tillamook County – Lincoln County’s neighbor to the north – is experiencing a big increase in COVID-19 cases and would have moved into the “extreme” category last week if not for the new statewide metrics.
The bad news on COVID-19 cases is overshadowing lots of good news and progress in vaccinations.
These include, Pourtal said:
- As of Monday, nearly 21,800 Lincoln County residents have received their first or second doses of vaccines, or nearly 53 percent of all residents over the age of 16. That is the highest rate of any Oregon county. “I like being No. 1 on this particular thing,” said Commissioner Kaety Jacobson.
- Another 3,200 doses will be available this week at eight first-dose and five second-dose clinics, not including hundreds more at the tribal clinic in Siletz and at five pharmacies.
- The county expects another surge of people seeking vaccinations on Monday when anyone 16 and over becomes eligible for vaccines. The county reminded people there is no longer an official waiting list. People need to go to the county’s website and sign up directly for a clinic day and time. People should also get alerts to any vaccine opening by signing up on the state’s GetVaccinated.Oregon site, or check with individual pharmacies.
- LCPH has requested 800 additional vaccine doses from the state next week to handle the influx of 16- and 17-year-olds expected to want the vaccine. It has also started talks with the Lincoln County School District to see about conducting clinics at some schools. In answer to a question, Pourtal said students 16 and over do not need parental permission to get a vaccine.
- The county did not get any one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines last week, and will not get any this week and next because 15 million doses had to be destroyed because of a manufacturing mistake at a plant in Maryland. Pharmacies may have some, however. That means a delay in plans to use Samaritan Health Systems’ mobile clinic to go to motels and restaurants to vaccinate staff, Pourtal said.
- Pourtal said the county’s goal is to vaccinate 70 percent of eligible residents “but we will not stop there.” The so-called “herd immunity,” she told Jacobson, is achieved when 95 percent of an area’s population is either vaccinated or has contracted COVID-19. There have been 1,258 cases reported in the county in the past 14 months.
The increase in Lincoln County’s COVID-19 cases has mostly come from the north end of the county.
