Lane County remains on High Alert for COVID-19 transmission risks. As Public Health announced four new outbreaks Thursday, elected officials pled with community members to heed the warnings and take action toward prevention.
Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis said she is alarmed at the rate the virus has spread. Lane County cases have increased 700% since August.
“If we don’t re-commit to basic safety measures now, this virus could devastate our community,” she said.
Acknowledging “COVID fatigue” is real, Vinis said she too is 'tired of it.' But this is the critical time to wake up and stop the spread.
Public Health reported four new case clusters in Lane County. One is a social outbreak after a back-to-school party, two are from recent weddings and a workplace cluster has sickened five staff at Nile Gentleman’s Club in north Eugene.
Lane County Public Health announced it will offer free COVID-19 testing to wildfire evacuees next week at the Lane Events Center.
Lane County Public Health spokesperson Jason Davis said it’s the right thing to do. “They have lost their homes. They have limited access to vehicles and to health care," said Davis. "I think it’s contingent upon our community and certainly upon Public Health to wrap our arms around them and to help them right now.”
Wildfire Evacuee Testing Events will be held at the Lane Events Center (fairgrounds) parking lot in Eugene.
October 7th from 2pm to 6pm
October 8th from noon to 4pm
October 9th from 2pm to 6pm
Davis adds the county has launched a newmapwhich arranges most recent cases by zip code. The map is located on the Lane County Public Health website. https://www.lanecounty.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=3585881&pageId=16503774
As of October 1st, Lane County has seen 1,328 positive COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.