LANE COUNTY ISSUES NEW EMERGENCY COVID-19 GUIDANCE

August 24, 2021

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Lane County, OR—This past week, hospitalizations due to COVID-19 passed 100 individuals. All 62 staffed ICU beds have been full for the past 48 hours with nearly half of these individuals being COVID-19 patients. While Lane County hospitals serve as a medical hub for several counties, the percentage of hospitalizations from Land County is growing and now represents 75% of hospitalizations.

To counter this escalating situation, Lane County Public Health makes the following recommendations for all individuals in Lane County effective immediately:

For individuals, regardless of vaccination status:

Wear masks in indoor spaces with other individuals outside of your immediate household;
Wear masks in outdoor spaces when maintaining six feet of distance is not possible from other individuals outside of your immediate household;
Carry masks and hand sanitizer with you when leaving home and wash your hands as often as possible;
Avoid crowded public spaces, whether in or outdoors;
Avoid unnecessary business or leisure travel;
Respect other’s space and maintain at least 6 feet distance from others;
Limit activities that could lead to injuries requiring hospital care;
If you are an unvaccinated adult, stay home and avoid public interactions as much as possible;
Get vaccinated.

Additionally, Lane County Public Health Administrator will also be bringing a draft board order to the Lane County Board of County Commissioners sitting as the Lane County Board of Health (BOH) on Tuesday, August 24^th. This draft board order would be the second in as many meetings of the Board.

This second draft Emergency Public Health Advisory will add immediate recommendations for businesses, organizations, and employers to immediate action to limit ongoing community spread, defend our dwindling hospital capacity, and save lives in Lane County. While this advisory won’t go before the BOH until Tiesday, Lane County Public Health is calling on businesses, organizations, and event organizers to consider the following recommendations as soon as possible.

Lane County Public Health calls for the following actions:

For Businesses:

Ensure indoor masking consistent with previous LCPH advisories and Governor Brown’s masking order
Ensure outdoor masking for those older than five years of age (two and older if tolerated) – regardless of vaccination status – when in outdoor public spaces in which six feet of distance cannot be consistently maintained;
Limit capacity to facilitate social distancing, particularly when customers will be eating and drinking without masks;
Prominently post appropriate signage to remind customers to observe COVID-19 safe practices;
Prominently post signage about the vaccination status of your business and staff.

Public Venue Owners, Operators, and Permitting Authorities:

While peer-reviewed evidence of outdoor transmission risks associated with the Delta Variant of SARS-CoV-2 is incomplete, we believe that the safest strategy is to avoid public events greater than 200 peopleindoors and outdoors for at least the next two weeks. We strongly consider postponing events until a later date when transmission risk is reduced. If this is not possible, we recommend taking the following steps to limit
Require indoor and outdoor masking, regardless of vaccination status;
Consider requiring proof of vaccination for entry;
Consider capacity limits to facilitate distancing, whether in or out of doors;
Provide ample sanitation stations for handwashing;
Consider entrances, exits, and other areas where people tend to clusters – ensure that attendees have room to queue that facilitates spacing. Use signage and staff to remind people to maintain distance and use masking, indoors and outdoors;
Consider touchless vending options, if possible;
Prominently post appropriate signage to remind customers to observe COVID-19 safe practices; reinforce via public address announcements throughout the event.