COVID-19 case numbers – and hospitalizations - continue to increase in Lane County. The trend directly impacts the county’s timeline for getting kids back in school.
Jocelyn Warren is Lane County’s Public Health Manager. She says the eruption of cases occurring because of small gathering are a big concern. She reports they’re happening in settings like day cares and bars, long term care facilities and backyard barbeques.
Warren acknowledges many people are vested in getting all students back in their classrooms.
“But that can’t happen if the conditions locally here don’t improve. We need to have at least three weeks in which we meet the school metrics and we don’t meet the metrics right now. We just exceeded those with the new numbers posted.”
Schools can only return to in-person learning if the following criteria are met:
- The state must be at or below 5% COVID-19 positivity rate for three weeks
- Counties must have cases drop below 10 per 100,000 residents per week, for at least three weeks
- Counties must also have at or below 5% positivity rate for at least three weeks
Warren insists the public already knows what to do to flatten the curve. Lane County has seen low case numbers relative to other large counties in Oregon—until now. She says this is the time to “double down” on protection and prevention.
Following a weekend case spike- as of 09/22/20- Lane County reports a total of 1,023 COVID-19 cases overall and 116 currently considered infectious. There are 8 people hospitalized and 15 deaths have been attributed to the virus.
