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Lincoln County Extends Short-Term Lodging Restrictions

Rachael McDonald
/
KLCC

Lincoln County has extended restrictions on short-term lodging through May 31st. The coastal county is looking for a way to have a phased re-opening, hopefully in June.

Tourism is a huge economic driver for the Oregon Coast. But, to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Lincoln County put a stop to short term stays at local hotels, motels and rentals. Claire Hall is a Lincoln County Commissioner.

“It is truly economically devastating for them and their workforce and they’re encouraging us to look at at least a partial reopening sooner rather than later.”

Hall says they’re consulting with the lodging industry on ways to re-open safely. She says they’re working with other coastal counties, Clatsop and Tillamook, who have also limited short term lodging. Hall compares the coronavirus shutdown to flipping a switch and says reopening has to be the slow turning of a dial.

Credit Lincoln County
Lincoln County Commissioner Claire Hall.

“Let’s go about this thoughtfully. Let’s make it data-driven. Let’s take into account health, safety and economic impacts and hopefully we can find, and I’m confident we will find some kind of a reasonable balance.”

Lincoln County has only 5 positive cases of the virus and no deaths. Hall says there’s a large concentration of senior citizens in her county and she’s glad their social distancing restrictions have helped to keep the virus under control. But Hall says they have a large senior population, and keeping their residents healthy is the top priority.

Copyright 2020 KLCC.

Rachael McDonald is KLCC’s host for All Things Considered on weekday afternoons. She also is the editor of the KLCC Extra, the daily digital newspaper. Rachael has a BA in English from the University of Oregon. She started out in public radio as a newsroom volunteer at KLCC in 2000.
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